A Second Chance
by Shadgirl2
Summary: Rewrite of season 2. A mysterious man challenges Judai to a duel one day, one he doesn't survive. With some outside help, he gets a second chance at life. But there's a catch: he has to defeat the Light of Destruction if he wants to stay alive, and he doesn't have much time. Can he win before it's too late? Collab with Midna Azusa.
1. Chapter 1

**This isn't technically my first story, just the first one on my account. All my stories are collaborations with Midna Azusa, and this one's no exception. It's a rewrite of the second season of Yugioh GX. Just a weird idea I got one day that Midna Azusa agreed to help me write.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh GX.**

It was a typical day at the Osiris Red dorm. Well, typical since Kenzan had moved in, anyway. As usual, he and Sho weren't getting along. The argument this morning—who would be sitting next to Judai in class.

"What are you talking about!?" Sho demanded. "Of _course _it's me! You're in a different grade!"

"So what!? _You're_ not even an Osiris Red to begin with, so _you_ should go sit with the other Ras!" Kenzan retorted.

"You're a Ra, too, Kenzan!"

Manjoume looked like he was barely containing the urge to throttle them both. He growled, then snapped, "SHUT UP! Honestly! It's the same thing every day here! Why can't you two just quit it, already!? You're both driving me nuts!"

"Yeah, relax, guys," Judai said. "Can't we all just get along?"

"Only if _those_ two would just jump off a cliff already!" Manjoume responded.

"Hey!" the fighting Ras said together.

"Aw, come on, Manjoume! You don't mean that, do you?" Judai asked, a grin on his face—he was certain that Manjoume didn't.

The annoyed duelist humphed. "I've had it! One of these days, they're going to have to learn that there are more important things than fighting all the time!"

"That's kinda funny, coming from him," Sho muttered, to which Kenzan nodded.

"What was that!?" Manjoume demanded, glaring at them and gritting his teeth.

"Come on, guys!" Judai said, smiling somewhat nervously. "Take it easy!"

Manjoume growled. "That's it. I'm outta here! Later, losers!"

With that, he stormed out of the cafeteria, ticked off by Sho and Kenzan. Some of the other students watched him go, then looked back at the fighting duo.

"Now look what you did, shrimp!" Kenzan said. "You drove Manjoume-senpai off the edge!"

Sho retorted with, "Hey, if you hadn't—"

"Guys!" Judai cut him off. "That's what drove him off in the first place! Cut it out!"

"Sure! When he stops butting in!" Kenzan said.

Sho growled. "The only one butting in here is—"

"Guys!" Judai said, irritated.

Asuka came running into the cafeteria just then. "Guys! There's someone here who wants to see Judai!"

"Huh?" he asked, standing up. "Me?"

Sho and Kenzan looked, too, finally shutting up.

"He's waiting in the woods," Asuka said. "I don't know who he is or what he wants, but he says it's important and wants to see you right now."

"Really? That's kind of weird," Sho said. "Who do you think it is?"

"Don't know," Judai answered. Heading for the door, he added, "Come on!"

* * *

Asuka led the three back to a clearing in the woods, where a big man in a white trench coat, a white hat, and white sunglasses was waiting. The outfit reminded Judai of someone, but he couldn't quite place it. As the four of them arrived, the man looked right at Judai.

"W-who is that guy?" Sho asked, slightly hidden behind Judai. "What does he want?"

Judai, wondering the same thing, stepped forward. "Are you the guy that wanted to see me?"

The man nodded, waving for Judai to come closer. Judai looked at him curiously before taking a few steps forward.

"Aniki, wait," Kenzan said.

"Relax," Judai assured him. "It'll be fine."

The man turned and started heading deeper into the woods, signaling for Judai to follow.

Well. _That_ seemed suspicious. Judai hesitated, unsure it was a good idea to follow a random stranger deep into the woods. The man stopped and looked back, waiting.

"What is he doing?" Sho asked. "I'm getting a bad feeling."

"I agree, Judai," Asuka said. "Maybe we should get out of here."

The man pulled out a duel disk at this suggestion, looked at Judai's friends, shook his head, and waved for Judai to follow again.

"Looks like he just wants to duel," Judai said, feeling a bit more relaxed—granted, this whole thing was still strange, but a duel wasn't anything dangerous, right? He stepped forward, and the man turned and started walking again.

When his friends tried to follow as well, the man stopped walking and turned to look at them, apparently not approving.

"So, wait, is he saying he came all this way here just to duel you in private?" Kenzan asked. "Why would he do that?"

"Judai. I don't know about this," Asuka said worriedly. "I just can't shake the feeling that he's up to something awful."

"Aw, you worry too much!" Judai told them with a smile. "Relax. It's no big deal."

Sho protested, "But, Aniki! You can't go alone! What if it's a trap!?"

"I can handle it. Don't worry, guys!" the brunette said, giving them a reassuring smile.

"If you say so. Just be careful, okay?"

"Don't worry, Asuka. I'll be fine!"

As he ran off after the man, the other three hung back, watching him go with worry. They just couldn't shake the feeling something bad was going to happen.

"Gee. I sure hope he'll be okay," Sho said.

"He said he would be," Kenzan reminded him. "I just hope he was right. I mean, who is that guy, anyway? And what's he want with Aniki?"

"I don't know," Asuka said, shaking her head. "Let's just hope that, whatever it is, it's nothing serious."

* * *

Judai followed the man to a deep ravine he hadn't even known was out here. There was a simple rope bridge running across it, a testament to how seldom anyone came out here. The man in white stepped onto the bridge, and Judai followed, albeit somewhat hesitantly.

He shouldn't have set foot on that bridge. As soon as he was on it, two more men dressed in white appeared out of nowhere, one on each side of the bridge. They were blocking it on both sides, and each one held an ax.

"What!?" Judai exclaimed, looking behind himself.

The man in the trench coat calmly walked across the bridge and, still standing on it, turned to face him. He put his duel disk on and activated it.

Judai just stared at him, a really bad feeling emerging in his gut—this was a trap, and he'd just walked right into it. The man in the trench coat just waited for Judai.

"So, I take it, if I lose this duel, your friends there are gonna cut the bridge?" Judai asked.

The man nodded.

"And the winner gets to live," the brunette added, thinking back to those shadow games last year. "Got it. Okay! Since I have no choice anyway, I accept!"

He activated his duel disk. The man, looking pleased, drew five cards. Judai followed his lead, and his latest death match began.

* * *

_This is bad!_ Judai thought. _I don't have anything on the field, and it's his turn!_

This duel had been completely one-sided. Judai had never seen these cards before, and they had been completely demolishing him. It was as if this guy knew all his strategies. He countered everything effortlessly, leaving Judai with no chance to even defend himself.

"White Night Dragon!" the man called to his monster. "Finish him off!"

The ice dragon obeyed, shooting a blast of ice at Judai and reducing his life points to zero.

"No!" Judai cried, falling to his knees. "I...I lost!"

The man in the trench coat grinned, deactivating his duel disk as he ran toward the other side of the ravine. The man standing there moved aside to let him off the bridge. Judai was left to watch in horror as the two men simultaneously cut the ropes, dropping the bridge—and him—into the ravine. Judai screamed as he fell.

_Th-this is..._

He never finished that thought before the world went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Duel spirit lines are in quotes and italics. Also Midna Azusa says cookies go to whoever can guess who the two girls at the end are.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh GX.**

**WARNING: OCs.**

Faint voices were heard in the distance.

"Judai."

"Aniki."

"Where are you? Judai."

Down in the ravine, the brunette moaned, slowly opening his eyes and getting up off his stomach. "Oh, geez," he groaned, rubbing his head. Looking up, he added, "Well, that wasn't fun..."

"Judai! Judai, where are you!?" he heard Asuka cry from above.

"Aniki!" Sho and Kenzan called.

"Guys? Hey! Down here!"

"I wonder where they went," Asuka said. He could see her standing near the edge of the ravine. Clearly, though, she hadn't heard him. "I knew this was a bad idea! Why did we let him go off alone?"

He got to his feet and tried again. "Guys!"

"Maybe we should split up and look for them," Sho suggested. "They couldn't have gone too far, right?"

"Guys, I'm down here!" Judai yelled at the top of his lungs.

Asuka looked thoughtful for a moment before she nodded and said, "Okay. We'll meet back at the clearing in an hour. If anyone finds him, remember to send the others a message, though."

"Okay!" Sho and Kenzan said.

Asuka nodded again. "Right. See you later, then!"

The three of them ran off, splitting up to look for the guy who was right below them.

"Why didn't they hear me?" he wondered.

Sure, he was in a deep ravine, but he could hear them talking. Was his voice just not carrying to the top? Regardless of how deaf his friends were being, he decided he should just go back to that clearing and wait for them. That is, if he could find a way to climb out of this ravine.

* * *

It took him a while to find his way out of that ravine, but he managed it somehow and headed back to the clearing, where he sat under a tree and waited. Soon he saw Asuka coming toward him, along with Kenzan coming from the left.

"Hey, gu—" he started, standing up.

Asuka ran right passed him, heading over to Kenzan and Sho, who had come up behind him. "Any luck, guys?" she asked.

Sho shook his head sadly.

Kenzan looked down, kicking the dirt. "Man! How could we be so stupid!?"

"Aniki... What could they have done to him!?"

"Come on," Asuka said. "We better tell Temporary Principal Cronos."

The other two nodded, and they all ran off—without so much as a glance at Judai.

Judai stared after them for a moment, stunned. "What? She...she just ran right passed me...as if she didn't even see me?" He looked at himself, but he didn't see any reason they shouldn't have seen him. _What, am I invisible? _That didn't seem likely. "Huh... What's going on here?"

He crossed his arms, thinking about it. "Okay, I lost that duel, so the guys cut the bridge... I fell...then..." His eyes widened as he realized what he should have realized sooner—that fall wasn't something you could survive uninjured. "Oh, no way. I can't be—"

Unable to finish that thought, he ran back to the ravine to check things out.

* * *

Judai stopped at the edge of the ravine, almost afraid to look. When he finally worked up the courage to peek over the edge, he couldn't really tell what was down there. He headed back down into the ravine, and the sight that met him made him feel sick.

Lying there among the shattered wooden remains of the bridge was a body—his body. There was blood everywhere—it was hard to tell where it was all coming from, but it seemed a significant amount had pooled around his head. His limbs were pointing in all the wrong directions, broken from the impact. Some splinters from the bridge had also been lodged in his body. There was a particularly large one in his stomach. His eyes were open in a look of terror, but they were completely lifeless.

"N-no way...," he said, horrified. "Th-that's..." He made his way closer slowly, white as a sheet. "That's...me..."

As this realization dawned on him, he dropped to his knees. "I-I'm dead..."

He just sat there in silence for a few minutes, trying to get over the shock. Finally, he spoke, coming to terms with what this meant. "Aw, man! S-so no more fried shrimp."

That simple and ridiculous statement led him to think about his friends. "How's Sho gonna take this one? And Asuka...I never told her..." He growled, closing his eyes. "Why am I still here, even!? Now what!?"

He stayed there the rest of the day, thinking about what exactly this all meant. It was late at night when he finally came to terms with the whole thing.

Sighing, he thought, _This isn't going to do me any good... Might as well accept it. But I need to let the others know that I'm never coming back...and there's only one guy I know who can see me now._

He rose and headed off to find Manjoume.

* * *

In Manjoume's room, it was hard to believe he was asleep. Well, at least now Judai knew why he slept with earplugs. There was a party going on, and every duel spirit in Manjoume's possession seemed to be involved. Petite Dragon flew by, Tenderness was spotted, the Ojamas were floating around... Even the Black Scorpions were there. It was a good thing he had remodeled his room because even the Armed Dragons were in on the action, and the room would have been too small before for all of these spirits to party.

Don Zaloog, the leader of the Black Scorpions, turned his one eye on Judai, a bottle of sake in his hand. _"Hey there, pal! You here for some fun, too!?"_ He held up the sake.

Judai stared at him for a second before saying, "Uh...not really."

_"__Judai!"_ said Ojama Yellow, coming over and looking happy to see him. _"Where have you been!? We were so worried about you!"_ The little creature paused, snail-like eyes taking in the sight before him, before adding, _"Hey, wait a minute. Since when can you fly?"_

Judai glanced down, realizing that he was indeed floating a couple inches off the ground. Nothing too noticeable, really. "Since I...er..." He trailed off.

A big white Ojama barged in, wearing a green cape in addition to the polka dot underwear of the Ojamas—Ojama King. _"Hey, guys!"_ he said. _"The life of the party has finally arrived!"_

_"__I'm sorry, your Majesty,"_ Yellow said, _"but, with all due respect, I think I'm gonna have to be a party-pooper tonight."_

All the other spirits stopped partying, with the exception of Don Zaloog, who seemed to be drunk.

_"__Huh!? But I just got here! Why?"_

_"__'Cause I've gotta wake Aniki up. We've got a serious problem here!"_

_"__We do!? What is it!?"_

In response to his monarch's question, Yellow pointed at Judai. Ojama King looked and gasped.

_"__W-why, he looks like—"_

Yellow nodded and flew over to wake Manjoume, saying, _"That's why I've gotta tell Aniki! He needs to know this right away!"_

The Ojama King nodded and watched with concern, along with the others.

_"__What are they going on about, you rascal?" _the drunk asked Judai.

_"__Aniki, Aniki!"_ Yellow said, getting up in Manjoume's face and smacking him a couple times. _"Wake up! Don't make me do something drastic!"_

Manjoume groaned, reaching out to grab the spirit as he slowly opened his eyes. "What? And this better be—"

He cut himself off, seeing Judai. His eyes widened as he demanded, "Judai!? Where on earth have you been!? We were worried sick about you! And why are you bothering me at 3 in the morning?"

"Manjoume...I..."

"What?"

Ojama Yellow, freed from Manjoume's grasp, floated out of the way.

Judai hesitated. "I'm..." He took a deep breath, then decided to just get on with it. "I'm dead."

"What!?" Manjoume demanded. He sat up halfway, taking a closer look—he could see right through Judai, who was also floating an inch or two off the ground. He stared at him for a moment, his eyes bugging out of his head. "No way. N-no way. I must be dreaming or something. Th-there's no way you're—"

"Manjoume, I already did that today," Judai said sadly.

Looking stunned, Manjoume asked, "B-but how? How can this be? If this is some sort of sick joke, I'm gonna—!"

"I got into this duel with a guy earlier today," Judai answered. "He...he said that the loser would die. We were dueling on a bridge over a ravine, and I lost, so some other guys...cut the ropes holding the bridge..."

Suddenly Manjoume bolted upright. "This is crazy! So, if you're really dead, then why are you here!? What do you want from me!? Y-you're not here to—"

He cut himself off, thinking about the idea of being haunted by Judai for the rest of his life. Wasn't it bad enough that he had hallucinated about him right before he wound up at North Academy? Wasn't it bad enough he had duel spirits partying in his room every night? Did he really need his rival haunting him?

He felt woozy; he wobbled back and forth a bit before falling onto his back, his legs in the air, moaning and twitching at the very thought.

"I just need you to...to let everyone know...I'm not coming back... I mean, you're the only one that can see me now..."

Manjoume sat straight up again. "Oh. Is that all? Then okay... Yeah, that's fine. Totally fine."

He looked relieved, but he sounded like he was in denial. Judai certainly hoped he wasn't going insane. The brunette cocked his head, confused by this behavior.

Manjoume took a deep breath, then said, "So what you're saying is that you died and came looking for me, but not to haunt me, just to let people know about it?" He growled, then, sounding angry and...something else, asked, "Why are you so selfish!?"

Judai was confused. "Huh? What? You _want _me to haunt you? Because I could do that, I guess."

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT, YOU IDIOT!"

"Well, what _do_ you mean?"

Manjoume's head was low, his hands clenched into fists and shaking. "Why. You." His head snapped up, and he glared at Judai with tears burning in his eyes. "WHY DID YOU HAVE TO TELL ME THIS!? I DIDN'T NEED TO KNOW YOU—"

He sounded devastated, leaving Judai at a loss for words—he had thought that it was less selfish to tell them that he was dead so that they wouldn't waste their time looking for him and risk running into his broken body in that ravine unprepared.

_Guess there's just no way to win this one...,_ he thought.

Manjoume lowered his head again, still fighting back tears. He pounded his fist on his bed.

Judai looked at him sadly. "Manjoume...I'm sorry..."

Manjoume growled, his head still low. "Just g-get out of my sight! I've got enough company already!" he said, pointing around at the duel spirits.

Yellow moved to comfort him. _"Oh, Aniki. It's okay."_

He didn't even protest—he just groaned a bit and half-heartedly swatted the Ojama away.

Yellow wasn't so easily deterred—he flew back over and sat on Manjoume's head. _"Aniki..."_

As Judai watched, Manjoume started crying, but he was trying hard to cover it up and keep it hidden. His head was still low. This scene was making him feel guilty, and he wanted to help, but he knew that anything he did would just make things worse.

With nothing else to do for his friend, Judai headed through the door and out of the room.

Outside, a furry brown spirit sat on the railing at the bottom of the stairs, looking sad. Its white wings were folded.

_"__Kuriiii..."_

Seeing the spirit, Judai walked over and picked it up. "Hey, Aibou..."

The Winged Kuriboh looked down. _"Kurii..."_

Judai just stood there, petting the spirit as he waited to see how badly Sho would take the news.

* * *

The sun rose over Duel Academy Island, and a frantic Ra came bolting out of a room on the second floor of the Red dorm, dressed for a safari.

"Okay!" Sho exclaimed. "Today for sure I'm gonna find him!"

Judai, leaning on the railing outside of what had once been his room, looked at him sadly.

Sho turned back toward the room and called, "Kenzan! Hurry up! Aniki's not gonna rescue himself!"

"I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying!" Kenzan answered. "Sheesh! Just give me a minute!"

Winged Kuriboh kuried again, though this time his noises had meaning. _"Guess they don't know yet..."_

"Yeah... Guess not...," Judai said.

Sho was dancing around impatiently when Manjoume slowly came out of his room on the first floor, his head down so that his hair was hiding his face.

"Hurry up, already!" Sho called to Kenzan. "We need to get going if we're gonna find him!"

"I already did...," Manjoume said.

Sho looked down over the railing at him. "Huh!?"

"Well, darn it, Manjoume, why didn't you tell us!?" Kenzan demanded, coming out and looking down at the boy in question. Seeing how depressed he seemed to be, he added, "Hey, what's wrong with you?"

_"__Here we go...,"_ Winged Kuriboh said.

Manjoume looked up slightly, catching sight of Judai up on the second level. He looked down again and pointed at him, saying, "He's right there..."

Sho looked "What!? Where!? I don't see—"

"Exactly." He looked at Judai again.

"Whoa. Back it up a bit," Kenzan said. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

Manjoume glared at Judai and asked, "Well, why don't I show you?"

"Huh!?" Sho and Kenzan asked, totally lost.

As much as Judai hated it, he knew what that meant: where's the body? Manjoume wanted him to lead them to the body.

"You heard me!" Manjoume snapped, glaring impatiently.

Judai hesitated for a moment before heading for the scene, saying, "This way."

Manjoume ran after him, calling, "Come on, already!"

Sho and Kenzan were totally lost, but they followed anyway.

* * *

Meanwhile, Asuka had recruited two of her dorm mates for help with this. Both had talents that she thought would be useful, even if they didn't get along that well. One had long, wavy hair and red eyes. The other was a short-haired blond with blue eyes.

She saw Manjoume, Sho, and Kenzan running toward them.

"Guys!" she called. "Where are you off to so fast?"

"Don't know!" Sho answered. "But Manjoume said he'd found Aniki!"

"Wha!? He did!?" the red-head asked.

"Well, that makes this a waste of my time, then," the blond said. "Where is he?"

"Just follow me!" Manjoume said, not stopping. "You need to see this!"

That didn't sound good. Asuka ran off after him, along with the worried red-head and the other blond girl. Whatever they were going to find, they were sure it wasn't going to be good.


	3. Chapter 3

**I should probably mention: Some Yugioh characters appear during the first half of this story. Since some made cameos in GX, I didn't feel the need to make this a crossover.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh GX. Kathleen is mine, Aki (Akiko) belongs to Midna Azusa.**

As Judai led the others into the clearing where he had met that man yesterday, the red-head stopped with a gasp.

"Wha!?" she exclaimed. "W-whoa, guys. Wait!"

Judai looked at her, somewhat confused. She was looking at him, her eyes wide, which was more confusing to Judai. He was a ghost. Could this girl see him? Another spirit-seer? Well, if that was the case, it had taken her long enough. Then again, there had been quite a few trees and bushes up until now.

"What's wrong, Kathleen?" Asuka asked.

The girl, Kathleen, said, "I-I think he's..."

"What!?" Sho asked. "Think he's what!? What's going on!?"

Manjoume looked down, knowing full well what the answer was to that question.

Kathleen was quiet for a moment, her pupils tiny from shock. Finally she asked, "Guys? Do you, uh, believe in ghosts?"

"What!?" Sho, Kenzan, and Asuka asked.

The other blond looked at Kathleen lamely and said, "Huh?"

"J-Judai...?" Kathleen asked. "Th-that you...?"

From the sound of things, she hadn't been at all ready for this. She wasn't even in his class, which just made it worse—if she was reacting this way, his friends would take it terribly. She, meanwhile, was just thinking that this was better than seeing the body.

"What!?" repeated his three friends who couldn't see spirits, looking straight at the stunned red-head.

She was still looking at Judai, though. He didn't answer her, simply looking down.

"Wait, Kathleen, I'm confused," Asuka said. "I don't see—"

"That's because you ain't got the gift," Kathleen said. "Right, Jun?"

Everyone looked at Manjoume.

He was quiet a moment before saying, "Yeah."

"Okay. Just what, exactly, are you guys saying?" Asuka asked nervously—she wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"Oh, not again...," the blue-eyed girl muttered. "So, is he that bird over there?" she asked, pointing to a bird that was in the general direction of Kathleen's gaze. "Or..." She trailed off, not wanting to finish that thought.

"Aki, this is soo not the time to be mean to me," Kathleen said. "These guys just lost a friend."

"We what!?" Asuka, Sho, and Kenzan demanded.

The girl called Aki's eyes widened.

"Tell me you didn't just say that!" Asuka said. "You didn't say that, right?"

Sho stammered, "Y-you mean—"

Kathleen closed her eyes and took her backpack from her back, knelt down, and pulled a Ouija board out of it. The wooden board had the letters of the Latin alphabet and the numbers 0 through 9, along with three words: yes, no, and goodbye. There was a pointer with a hole in it, the hole meant to be positioned over the chosen character.

"Probably best if you tell them rather than they hear it from me," she said, her eyes still closed, as she placed the board on the ground and sat down in front of it.

Everyone sat on the ground around the board, save Aki, who was a bit stunned. _She actually carries one of those around with her everywhere!? Where does she keep her school work, then!? I _know_ she does it, she's too much of a nerd not to!_

Asuka, Sho, and Kenzan seemed to be holding their breath. Judai debated whether he wanted to try using that thing as Aki recovered and moved toward the board herself.

"Well?" Kathleen asked the spirit. "We're waiting. Don't you have something you wanna say to them?"

Manjoume looked away, having heard enough last night. Unsure what to say, Judai fiddled around with the Ouija board a bit, moving the pointer around at random, before looking at Kathleen.

Sho shrieked. "I-It moved!"

"Kathleen!? W-what's going on here!?" Asuka demanded, staring at the board with wide eyes.

"A-Aniki...?" Kenzan asked nervously, a hint of denial in his voice. "Th-that really you...?"

"What the hell...?" Aki looked to be in denial as well. _No way. Judai Yuki, dead? That's not possible!_

Judai moved the pointer in response to Kenzan's question, placing the hole over the word "yes." This caused a collective gasp from three of his friends—Manjoume still wasn't looking and wouldn't have been surprised anyway.

"B-bu-but how!?" Sho stammered. "HOW CAN THAT BE!?"

Nobody answered—Kenzan and Asuka were too stunned, Kathleen seemed to be in mourning, Manjoume was trying to ignore everything going on around him, and Aki was still staring at the board.

Sho got up and aimlessly ran off in the direction they had been heading minutes before. Asuka and Kenzan stood up.

"Sho-kun!" Asuka called, running after him. "Wait a minute! Where are you going!?"

"Hey! Get back here, would you!?" Kenzan agreed as he followed as well.

"Sho! Come back!" Aki called, also running after him—she knew whatever he found wouldn't be a pleasant sight.

Manjoume got up and went after them, but Kathleen just took the Ouija board in her hands and stood up, her eyes still closed, as she waited for the inevitable scream. Judai, still in the clearing, braced himself.

"ANIIKIIIII!" Sho's voice echoed through the woods moments later.

Kathleen opened her eyes, looking off in the direction of the scream. "Looks like they found the body..."

She turned to walk off, heading back toward the school.

* * *

It wasn't long after that that the police arrived to investigate. Sho, Kenzan, Asuka, Manjoume, and Aki gave them their statements (with Aki's being along the lines of, "I just happened to be here when they found the body") and then the four friends headed off to relay the bad news to their other friends.

That afternoon, all of Judai's friends were gathered in his room to mourn. Sho, Asuka, and Fubuki sat on what was once Judai's bed. Misawa was positioned backward in the chair at the desk. Kenzan had taken a seat on the floor, and Manjoume just stood in the middle of the room with his arms crossed.

"I can't believe he's really gone..." Sho sniffled.

Asuka put a hand on his shoulder. "I know, Sho... I miss him, too..."

Misawa and Kenzan looked down sadly.

Fubuki wrapped Asuka in a hug, saying, "I'm sorry, sis."

She didn't say a word, but there were tears in her eyes. She hugged her brother tightly and started crying on his shoulder. He just held her tight, rubbing her back to soothe her.

"I know, sis," he soothed. "I know."

"That idiot," Manjoume said. "Left us for some dumb—" He cut himself off, growling and clenching his fists. "I'll never forgive that guy! He's gonna pay _dearly_ for this! Whoever he is!"

Judai, meanwhile, was sitting on the floor next to the open door just outside of his former room, listening with Winged Kuriboh.

_"__Well, now they all know, but...I don't think some of them were ready for this at all...," _Winged Kuriboh said, looking at Sho's devastated expression.

"Yeah, no joke," Judai said. "But I wasn't exactly ready to die, either."

_"__Weren't supposed to yet, either,"_ the Kuriboh muttered. Its foreign language made it difficult for Judai to translate when it was speaking so quietly, but he was pretty sure it sounded a bit annoyed. _We're doomed._

Judai didn't respond, just staring out at the school and thinking about his situation again. He was dead, and yet, he was still here. What did that mean?

"Marufuji-senpai!" Kenzan's voice dragged Judai from his thoughts. "You can't be serious!"

"Huh?"

Judai looked around the corner to see Sho standing, his fists clenched in front of him and a pained glare on his face. Kenzan was on his feet as well.

"I'm _dead_ serious, Kenzan-kun!" Sho answered. "I can't stay here without him! It's too painful! Besides, he was the only one who ever stood by me as a duelist. Without him to cheer me on and encourage me, what's the point?" His arms fell to his sides and he lowered his head, crying.

Misawa stood up and walked over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder and saying, "It's okay, Sho. We can still do that."

Sho sighed, shaking his head. "No. It wouldn't be the same." He gently removed Misawa's hand from his shoulder as he continued, "You guys don't understand." Lifting his head, he glared at them slightly, tears still running down his cheeks. "No one understands! And no one ever will, either!"

With that, he ran out crying, an arm over his face. Judai watched him go as he headed off toward the edge of the island.

Asuka looked after him, calling, "Sho-kun!"

She started to get up to follow, but Kenzan put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

"Let him go. He needs some time."

Fubuki got up and put a smile on his face, moving to the middle of the room. "It'll be okay, sis. Say, remember that time..."

As Fubuki started telling some story about Judai and Cronos, the brunette tuned him out, looking after his best friend.

_"__Great. Things here are already falling apart! We're doomed, for sure," _Winged Kuriboh said, looking annoyed. It sighed.

Judai couldn't shake the feeling that his little friend was annoyed with him for some reason. He looked at the furball and asked, "Aibou?"

_"__You know, Sho's probably gonna leave the island soon, right?"_

Judai was silent for a moment before saying, "Yeah..."

Another sigh from the Kuriboh.

"Am I missing something here?" Judai asked.

Winged Kuriboh just shook its head—meaning its whole body. _"No. Come on, we better check on Sho."_ It started flying off after Sho, adding, _"You know, in case he tries something stupid."_

Now worried about that himself, Judai got up and followed. Even if Sho couldn't see him, he was going to keep an eye on him for the time being.

* * *

Two days passed without much action.

The school was out of sorts after Cronos informed them of Judai's death. The third-years and second-years seemed especially affected, having known Judai for a year. Everyone kept offering their condolences to his friends. Classes continued as usual, but Judai's class felt his absence. His friends were attending classes, aside from Sho and Manjoume, but none of them seemed to be very focused. Even those who weren't his friends were affected: Aki kept glancing at his empty seat, and a purple-haired girl sitting next to her burst into tears at one point.

Samejima was informed about the death of one of his students, and so he reminded Cronos to give Judai's friends permission to leave the island to attend his funeral. Most of them were planning on attending.

Sho wasn't one of them. He was packing his bags, sure, but his reason was different. He planned on heading off on the boat back to the mainland, but he'd be heading home after that rather than attending the funeral. He couldn't stay here on this depressing and lonely island. His friends knew what he was planning, but they didn't know how to stop it.

Kenzan decided to try one last time to reason with Sho. After all, the boat would be leaving today to take them to Domino so they could get to Judai's funeral, so this would be his last chance.

"Are you sure about this, Marufuji-senpai?"

Sho didn't answer, not that Kenzan had expected him to—he hadn't spoken since he had run out the other day. He just kept packing his bags.

"You know, you're really starting to worry me," Kenzan said. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

A mechanical nod was his answer.

"Marufuji-senpai..."

Judai was watching this scene from the support beam running through the ceiling when Pharaoh walked over and curled up. He opened his mouth, and a white orb came out and floated over to the spot beside Judai, taking on the form of Daitokuji, the former head of the Red dorm. He sat beside Judai, his arms and legs crossed.

"You know, in all my life, I've never seen someone this torn up," he said, a gentle smile on his face.

Judai didn't answer, which wasn't something Daitokuji was used to at all.

"So why are you just sitting here watching this, Judai-kun?" he asked, looking at his former student in concern.

Sho closed his bag and stood up. Kenzan panicked a bit.

"Wha. Marufuji-senpai!" he said, taking a step toward him.

"What should I do?" Judai asked helplessly. "I can't stop him. I can't do anything at this point..."

Daitokuji raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"I'm dead! It's not like I can do anything to make Sho feel better so that he'll stick around. Isn't it because I'm dead that he's like this, anyway?"

Daitokuji nodded. "I suppose that's true. Though it may also be that all he needs is to see you. To hear your voice. Maybe that'll be enough to snap him out of it?"

Judai looked at him helplessly and said, "But he can't see or hear me, Sensei."

Daitokuji smiled and got up, floating in front of Judai with his hands on his hips. "Judai-kun, you've got a lot to learn. And I'm just the fellow to teach you."

Judai just looked at him questioningly.

* * *

Manjoume, meanwhile, was out in the woods, searching for the murderer. He'd been doing this for the past two days, even skipping classes to continue searching. He found a man dressed in white wandering around the woods, which led him to suspect him instantly. After all, the only thing he knew about the murderer was that he had been dressed all in white. The man had long purple hair.

"Hey!" Manjoume called. "You there! Are you the one who killed my friend!?"

He had been calling Judai his friend a lot lately. There was nothing like somebody's death to make you realize how much you appreciated that person when they were around.

The man turned, purple eyes looking at Manjoume sympathetically. A patch of his hair in the front was white. "I'm sorry, young duelist. I am not."

Manjoume growled. "Then who are you, then!? Tell me! Why are you out here hiding in the woods if you're not the guy!? Well!?"

The man waved Manjoume closer, saying, "Come. I want to show you something. It could change your destiny."

"What are you? Some freaky fortune-teller? Well, thanks, but no thanks. I ain't got time for that nonsense." He started walking off.

"But, my boy," the man said. "What I've got for you may lead you to your friend's killer."

That stopped Manjoume in his tracks. He turned, asking, "What?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Daitokuji had given Judai a crash course in appearing before people. If he wanted them to be able to see him, he had to concentrate on that fact and use his mind to make himself visible. Apparently letting them see him would also let them hear him. Well, there was one thing that was clear to Judai—being a spirit made no sense at all.

By this point, Sho was heading toward the pier, his head down. Judai and Daitokuji—who, miraculously, hadn't been swallowed up by Pharaoh again yet—watched from outside of the Red dorm.

"Okay. Now, just remember what I taught you. And brace yourself for a sudden burst of panic," Daitokuji said. "But don't worry, that's normal."

"Okay," Judai said uncertainly.

"Good luck, my boy. I'll be right over here watching." With that, he headed over to hide behind one of the support beams for the bridge.

Judai floated over and got in front of Sho, who was on the bridge by this point. He tested out what Daitokuji had taught him, concentrating on making Sho see him. Sho stopped suddenly, but he didn't look up.

"Oh. Hi, Aniki..."

Judai stared at him, somewhat worried. _Strangely calm... Well, okay, then._ He decided to worry about that later. "Sho, where are you going?"

"Why do you ask? It's none of your business, is it?" Sho asked, his voice lifeless.

"I think it is if you're leaving because of me."

Sho didn't answer, which told Judai all he needed to know.

"Sho, come on. Don't drop out just because of me."

Another moment of silence followed before he said, "Why not? I'm no duelist, remember? I can't do anything right..."

"Sure, you can!" Judai countered. "You're better than you think you are, Sho."

Sho finally lifted his head, glaring at Judai with tears in his eyes. "No, I can't! I've _never_ been good at dueling! But you know who was and who _would_ have made it to the pros!? _You!_ That's right! Y-O-U! _You're _the one who won that tag duel, _you're_ the one who showed me I_ was_ good enough to use that card, and it was _you_ who convinced me to take it with me when I began my Ra journey! Why, the reason I was able to get into Ra in the first place was also 'cause of you! I was afraid of falling behind you and chose to rise up and change so that that wouldn't happen! In other words, I'm _useless_ without you giving me strength and support! So why the _hell_ should I have to stay here _alone!?_"

By the end of this, the tears were flowing freely down Sho's face.

It took a moment for Judai to recover his voice. "Sho, I..."

What could he say to that? He didn't have any idea... Unless... _Sho says he needs my support... Would carrying on my dreams work? Well, it's gonna have to do, all things considered..._

"Well, I can't go to the pros now...," Judai said, hoping this idea would work. "But you still can... I mean...for me?"

Sho stared at him for a long moment before saying, "You're asking the wrong guy, Aniki. Or did you forget everything I just—"

"You're doing what you do all the time, Sho—putting down your own skills. You're a good duelist! Why can't you see that already? You're not as bad as you think you are."

"And there you go again! You're the only one who believes in me no matter what! See!? I _can't_ do it alone! Why, Aniki!? Why did you have to leave me!? Why!?" The tears were coming down again.

"Sho... If I left you, why am I here now, telling you not to drop out?"

Sho sniffled. "I-I don't know." He sniffled again.

"I may not be here anymore physically, but I'm still with you in spirit. And I don't want to see you drop out."

Sho just stood there, thinking about these words.

"Please, Sho? Don't leave."

Another moment of silence followed Judai's plea before Sho asked, "Why are you still here? Shouldn't you have gone to the other side?"

Now it was Judai's turn to be speechless—he'd been wondering about that himself, after all.

Asuka came running just then, saving him from answering.

"Sho-kun! I'm glad I caught you—" She cut herself off with a gasp, stopping in her tracks, when she saw Judai.

Thinking that was more like how Daitokuji said people would react, Judai stared at her. _That's more like it..._

She was staring, her eyes wide and a hand on her cheek. "Oh...my..."

Another moment of uncomfortable silence was all he could bear before saying, "Hey, Asuka."

She just stared. "J...J-Ju..."

As he waited for her to gather her wits, Judai briefly toyed with the idea of getting up in her face and yelling "boo."

Finally she calmed down, her hand dropping down to hang by her side and a neutral expression appearing on her face. "Judai..."

He returned the neutral expression, making sure to keep all emotion off his face.

"W-why are you here...? Did you come to check on Sho?" she asked.

Did he come to check on Sho... Well, not exactly. Still, he didn't want to burden her with his problems—she had enough going on, after all. "Yeah... Yeah, I came to check on Sho."

He was just short of convincing, but Asuka didn't seem to care about his lie—she looked away and said, "Oh."

Sho was staring at the ground again.

Judai stayed quiet for another moment before asking Asuka, "How are you holding up?"

She shook her head, brushing away whatever she was feeling just then. "That doesn't matter right now. Sho-kun? Before you leave, you might want to come with me. We've got a big problem here."

More silence from Sho before, "You mean besides Aniki being dead...?"

"Yes, besides that! Manjoume's gone off the deep end! And he's wearing white!"

Sho looked up suddenly. "What!?"

"Huh?" Judai asked, just as concerned as the others.

The man who had killed Judai had been dressed all in white, and Manjoume had never shown any particular fondness for the color. His sudden decision to wear white was disconcerting, all things considered.

"Come on! He's at the Red dorm!" Asuka said before running off, Sho following behind.

Judai just stayed there on the bridge, watching and wondering. "What's going on?"

"Judai Yuki," an annoyed male voice said.

"Huh?" He looked around, trying to find the source. "Who said that?"

Winged Kuriboh appeared, looking confused. _"Kuri?"_ Silently, it wondered, _Was that...? Nah, couldn't be. Or could it?_

"Judai, Judai, Judai," the voice continued. "I must say, you're way more of a handful than my old group of friends. How _do_ you get yourself into these messes?"

"Who's there?" he repeated, still looking around. "How do you know me?"

"Look up."

He looked up. There was a small yellow ball of light coming down from the clouds, about the size of a human head. It stopped right in front of him.

An extremely surprised Kuriboh started waving its paws around, eyes wide. _"Kuri kuri kuri!"_

"Huh?" Judai asked, looking at the puffball.

The voice laughed slightly. The sound was coming from the ball of light. "Hello, old friend. Long time, no see."

Winged Kuriboh answered with, _"I'll say!"_

"So, wait, you know each other?"

"Yes. But that doesn't matter right now. I came to see you, you little troublemaker." From the tone, Judai could almost see the speaker grinning slightly.

"'Troublemaker?'" Judai repeated.

"Yes. Of course. There's no better word to describe you, really. Getting mixed up in shadow games and not even knowing it, learning to fear them and needing _a lot_ of help to conquer those fears, falling for fakes... The list goes on and on. Although, I must say, this has to be your biggest mistake yet, kid."

"Yeah, no kidding," Judai said, crossing his arms in annoyance. As if he needed someone to tell him how big a mistake following that man had been.

"See, you weren't supposed to die yet. The world is still in dire need of your services. Or don't you know what's going to happen?"

"Huh?"

"Listen carefully. As we speak, there are evil forces at work here, trying to destroy the world. But they're not just after Earth, I'm afraid. No. Their target is much bigger than that."

"Really?"

"Yes. They want to destroy the entire universe. Now, I hate to be the bearer of even more bad news, but I'm afraid you're the only one who can stop them, Judai."

"Oh. So, basically, we're all doomed."

"Not quite. You see, there may be a way to return you to life. However you will _not_ be reborn a human. At least, not at first."

"Wait, what?"

Winged Kuriboh went nuts. _"Wait, you're saying there really _is_ a way!? But how!?"_

"Well, my young friend," the voice answered the duel spirit, "I've got some allies he has to meet first. And _they'll_ grant him the gift of rebirth."

"'Scuse me, can you talk to _me?_" Judai asked. "Because _I'm _the one who died recently. What's this about rebirth?"

"There is a way to restore you to your living form. The gods believe you to be far too important to die at this time and are working together to give you a second chance."

Judai's expression lit up. "Really!?"

"Yes. But there's a catch."

"Yeah, what?" Judai asked, not seeming to care what it was.

"The body you will receive, though it may look human and require human needs to survive, will be more like the one your former dorm leader made for himself. In other words, it won't last long on its own. There is a way to stabilize it, but I'm afraid I can't tell you how. Only the gods themselves can give you that answer."

Judai deflated, thinking of what had happened to Daitokuji last year. "Oh."

"However, because it's a gift from the gods, should you manage to defeat this new enemy and save the world, they have promised to reward you by turning it human."

Judai's face lit up again.

"I wouldn't celebrate just yet, Judai," the voice said. "You may still lose it if you don't complete the tasks they tell you you'll need to do to make this miracle happen."

"Geez, make up your mind, already!" Judai said, crossing his arms. "Didn't you just say I just had to beat this enemy? What else do I have to do?"

"Only the gods themselves can tell you that, kid. Sorry," the voice said, not sounding very sincere—it sounded like it was enjoying his reaction, actually.

"Yeah, sure you are," Judai said. "Who are you, anyway?"

"Why, I'm the first mortal to be chosen by the gods," came the answer. "Although mine were from Earth. Egypt, to be exact." The voice laughed.

Judai stared, really getting curious now.

"Who better to guide a lost soul with a huge destiny than a formerly lost soul with a huge destiny?"

The light before him started growing, changing shape as it spoke. The form it adopted was somewhat familiar—a man with spiky, tri-colored hair and purple eyes. The bulk of his hair was black, but yellow streaks ran through it, and the tips were red. The resemblance to Judai's hero was uncanny, except for a few noticeable differences. This man's skin was tanned, and he was dressed in a tunic and covered in gold jewelry, including a crown atop his head. A blue cape flowed down his back.

Judai's eyes widened as he realized who this was. "Whoa...! You're...!"

The man nodded. "That's right, Judai. I am Atem. The Nameless Pharaoh."


	4. Chapter 4

**Flashbacks are in bold.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh GX.**

Daitokuji leaned forward slightly, looking around the bridge support. "Pinch me! Is that really the Nameless Pharaoh!? The one they say saved our world from total destruction not so long ago!? This is incredible! Judai-kun, you're something else!"

While Daitokuji was geeking out, Judai was still staring in awe, his mouth agape. In other words, he was doing pretty much the same thing.

"What's wrong, Judai?" Atem asked, a grin on his face. "Cat got your tongue?"

"You're... So, you're really..." He grinned suddenly, saying, "Whoa, awesome!"

Atem crossed his arms and closed his eyes, nodding, an amused look on his face. _Well, he reminds me of someone..._

"Oh, wow! So, then, you...!"

No doubt Judai could keep this up all day, so Atem, still grinning, opened his eyes and said, "Alright, alright. That's enough flattery for now. I thought you were in a rush to return to life, weren't you?"

Judai sweat a bit, having been reminded of this fact. "R-right!"

"Well, then, if you're still interested, then we should get going to see the first god that wishes to help you." He started floating off toward the edge of the island, stopping to hold a hand out to Judai as he asked, "Coming, Judai?"

Judai took his hand, and the two of them turned into lights—something Judai was positive Atem was responsible for since he hadn't even known he could do it—and the yellow light that was Atem guided Judai off through the sky.

"So, Judai, still want to know how I know you so well and why?" Atem asked as they traveled.

"Uh, well, yeah," Judai admitted. "I mean..."

He trailed off. It wasn't like he had ever really known Yugi or Atem, so how they knew him was definitely a good question. He hadn't entered any tournaments. The only thing he could be considered famous for would be that interschool duel last year that Manjoume's brothers had broadcast across Japan, and he highly doubted that was how they knew him.

"Well, it all started about a year and a half ago," Atem began.

**Yugi sat in his room, going over his cards for an upcoming tournament (which Jonouchi had insisted that they enter together). Aside from the distinct lack of schoolbooks, his room hadn't changed much in the past years. Well, there was the fact that he had replaced his childish alarm clock with a digital one.**

**His hair was just as unusual as it had always been—star-shaped, mostly black with red tips and yellow bangs. His time with the pharaoh had influenced his fashion sense. His wardrobe usually consisted of a black tanktop, leather pants, and some sort of jewelry on his arms.**

**As he checked over his deck one last time, he passed over a card he had gotten a couple days ago—a familiar little brown furball, but with wings and classified as a light attribute fairy rather than a dark fiend. As he did so, he heard a voice as it appeared beside him as a spirit.**

**_"_**_**Kuri, kuri!"**_

**"****Huh?" Yugi looked at it curiously. "What is it, Winged Kuriboh?"**

**_"_**_**Kuri!"**_

**While Yugi didn't understand what it was saying, its tone sounded urgent, as if this message was important. **_**Hmm. I wonder if my old partner knows what this means...**_

**Deciding he didn't have anything to lose in asking, he cupped his hands together and decided to call out to the spirit of his old partner. "Oh, Pharaoh. If you can hear me, then please help me figure out what this Kuriboh is trying to say."**

**He wasn't entirely sure what to expect—maybe nothing. It wasn't like he had tried this before. Hell, he might even have been going about it in the wrong way, but that felt like the best way to contact a spirit besides a seance. But no sooner had he finished than a cold wind came through his open window, blowing passed him. He turned to see the pharaoh sitting cross-legged on his bed, looking at the Kuriboh with a puzzled expression.**

**"****Atem!" Yugi exclaimed. "W-what are you doing here!?"**

**"****You called me, didn't you? Now, about this Kuriboh... Where did you get it?"**

**"****It came out of a pack of cards I bought the other day. Why?"**

**"****Hmm." He looked back at the Kuriboh. "That's strange. I've never seen one with wings before."**

**"****True. But you know Pegasus is always making new ones."**

**"****That may be so. But I'm afraid this little guy's not one of his. Well, at least, it's not supposed to have been, anyway."**

**"****Huh!? What do you mean!?"**

"**I mean, Yugi, that this little guy isn't from here. In fact, if I had to guess, he came to this world for a reason."**

"**Wait, are you saying he's from some other dimension or something? Like that Dominion of the Beasts or the Capsule Monsters?"**

**Atem nodded. "Exactly."**

**Yugi didn't ask how Atem knew this—it wasn't like it mattered, anyway. "So what does he want?" he asked instead.**

**Shrugging, Atem said, "Beats me. You know I don't speak Kuriboh."**

**Which made it all the more interesting that he was so certain the spirit wasn't from around here.**

"**Hmm," Yugi said. Turning to the Kuriboh, he said, "Okay, little guy. Why are you here, and what is it you want from me?"**

**Winged Kuriboh shook its little furry body in the equivalent of a shake of the head and pointed one green-clawed foot out the window.**

"**Huh? Something out there?"**

**The Kuriboh bobbed—the equivalent of a nod.**

"**Well, then," Atem said, rising from the bed. "What are we waiting for? Let's go see what it wants."**

**Yugi nodded and headed for the door, Atem following behind. He started to reach for the doorknob, but stopped when he thought about a potential problem.**

"**Uh, Pharaoh, I just thought of something," Yugi said, turning to his spirit companion. "How many people will be able to see you now? Maybe you shouldn't come."**

**Ever since that incident with Dartz, Yugi had noticed that more and more people seemed to see spirits. It had been spreading like wildfire—it was getting to the point where somebody started talking to one of his duel monsters every time he left the house. He thought, at first, that they were just using that as an excuse to talk to him, guessing what was in his deck. Then he mixed his deck up a bit—or, rather, a lot, using many monsters he had never used in public. Before he had used that deck in even a private duel, some kid had come over and started talking to his Silent Magician.**

**That was when he decided that there was no denying it—spirit-seeing was spreading.**

"**You're right," Atem said. "That could be problematic. Hmm. Okay. I'll go home and wait. Just call me again when you get there, okay?"**

**Yugi nodded. "Okay. See you then!"**

**Atem nodded, and they gave each other a high five before Yugi headed out the door and Atem headed back to the afterlife.**

"**Okay, Winged Kuriboh!" Yugi said, stepping out onto the street. "Lead the way!"**

**It nodded and flew off, Yugi running to keep up.**

"So, while I was waiting back home, Winged Kuriboh led Yugi to a train station."

**Yugi stared at the building before him curiously. "Wait. Why are we at Domino Station?" he asked. "Are you saying we have to go somewhere out of town?"**

**Winged Kuriboh nodded as Yugi followed it inside. It flew over to a map and pointed to a small town a few hours' ride away.**

**Yugi looked at where it was pointing and cocked his head slightly. "Huh. Yonezato... Wonder what's up there?"**

"Yonezato? That's my hometown!" Judai interrupted.

Atem nodded. "That's right. Winged Kuriboh led Yugi to Yonezato, right up to a rather large-looking house."

**Yugi stared at the home before him. It wasn't exactly a mansion, but it was definitely bigger than anywhere his friends lived. Well, except for Kaiba, but he lived in a mansion, so he didn't count.**

"**Why are we here, Winged Kuriboh?"**

**His only answer was a single "kuri" before the spirit flew over to a large window and peeked in, as if it were afraid of being seen.**

**Thinking that he could easily end up in jail if caught snooping around here, Yugi carefully headed over to join the spirit, looking over his shoulder constantly as he did so. When he looked in the window, he was confused beyond words.**

**The duel spirit was spying on a teenage boy—a two-tone brunette in a black jacket and matching pants. He was asleep at a large table in a somewhat spacious dining room. Apparently he had been doing homework or something, considering that his head was face-down in a textbook that was slowly being covered in drool.**

**Yugi looked to the spirit and whispered. "Kuriboh. I don't understand. Why did you drag me all the way out here just to spy on some kid?"**

"**I don't think spying was his intention."**

**Yugi turned, slightly startled, to see Atem floating behind him, his arms crossed. He was looking through the window at the boy.**

"**Yeah," Yugi said. "I agree. But is he saying there's something wrong with that kid? Or does he maybe want to go with him for some reason?"**

"**I don't know. It's hard to say since neither of us actually speaks Kuriboh."**

"**So now what?"**

**Atem shrugged. "There's nothing we can do for now. Let's just go home and keep an eye on things just to be safe."**

**Yugi nodded and said, "Okay! Come on, Winged Kuriboh! We're leaving!"**

**The Kuriboh started to protest. **_**"Kuri kuri! Kur—" **_**It sighed, cutting itself off—maybe it realized that they didn't know what it was saying in the first place. **_**"Kuri..."**_

**Pouting, it followed Yugi away from the house, but it kept looking back.**

"So, Winged Kuriboh led you guys to my house?" Judai asked, blinking a couple times—the thought of one of his heroes spying on him was a bit strange.

Atem nodded. "He led us to you. Though we didn't know it at the time, that was the first sign that you were destined for greatness."

Judai blinked again. _Greatness? I died at sixteen. _He looked at Winged Kuriboh flying along beside him and asked, "You sure you got the right guy, Aibou?"

It looked at him, seemingly confused. _"Kuri?"_

Atem laughed. "That's exactly what Yugi and I thought. That is, until that one day a couple months later."

**Yugi watched, totally confused, as Winged Kuriboh flew around his room in frantic circles.**

"_**Kuri kuri kuri kuri!"**_

**Atem appeared, sensing the urgency—he'd been keeping an eye on things with Yugi and this little Kuriboh since the day of their field trip to Yonezato.**

"**Glad you came," Yugi said to him.**

"**Well, this one sounded important. So what's that Kuriboh going on about?"**

"**Well, I—"**

"_**KURI!" **_**It bolted out of the room—probably even the building—at hyperspeed, cutting Yugi off.**

"**Hey! Kuriboh!" Yugi called, starting for the stairs. "Where are you going!?"**

"**Yugi! Wait!" Atem called.**

**He stopped and looked back. "What's wrong?"**

"**I'm going, too. This could be dangerous, and there's no way I'm leaving you alone."**

"**Thanks, pal, but you do know that I—"**

"**I know. You can take care of yourself. But what kind of friend would I be if I just stood by and made you do all the work, hmm? Besides, I'm bored," he added, grinning. "I could use a good adventure!"**

**Yugi returned the grin. "Just like old times, then?"**

**Nodding, Atem said, "It's been awhile, hasn't it?"**

**Yugi nodded as well, then said, "Okay, then! Then you better get in here so nobody sees you." He gestured to his body.**

**Atem laughed. "Well, okay, then, partner!" he said before diving into Yugi's body. Once inside, he spoke in Yugi's mind, saying, **_**Alright, partner! Follow that Kuriboh!**_

**Yugi just laughed as he ran out after the spirit.**

* * *

**The Kuriboh stopped in the middle of a park, looking around rather anxiously.**

"_**Kuri, kuri!"**_

**Yugi watched it from a distance. **_**Hmm. What do you think he's looking for now? **_**he silently asked Atem.**

_**I don't know,**_** came Atem's answer. **_**I don't sense anything off about this place.**_

"**Well, one way to find out," Yugi said aloud. He started toward the spirit.**

**Winged Kuriboh suddenly stopped looking around, staring eagerly behind Yugi at something.**_** "Kuri kuri!"**_

"**Hmm?"**

**Yugi started to turn, hearing a voice say, "Whoa, watch out!"**

**Someone crashed into him just then, falling to the ground. The Kuriboh, looking pleased, disappeared. The someone who had run into him apologized, but it was white noise to Yugi, who was stunned.**

**Sitting on the ground before him, picking up cards that had fallen all over the ground, was that two-tone brunette from before. He was wearing that black school uniform of his, a red shirt underneath the jacket, and red sneakers. Yugi and Atem just stared for a moment as the boy picked up his cards.**

_**It's that kid again! What does this mean? **_**Yugi wondered.**

**Atem answered, **_**I'd say, based on how that Kuriboh was just acting—**_

_**Yeah,**_** Yugi cut him off. **_**I think you're right. Okay.**_

**Regaining his composure, Yugi asked, "Do you duel?"**

**The boy glanced over his shoulder slightly, saying, "Yeah. I'm gonna take a test for the Duel Academy."**

**Yugi smiled and opened his deck box. The boy got to his feet, laughing, a hand on the back of his head. He took a closer look, realizing who he was talking to.**

"**H-hey, you're..."**

**Holding up the Winged Kuriboh card, Yugi said, "This is a lucky card. It wants to go with you."**

**He handed the card to the boy, who thanked him as he was walking off.**

"And, after that, we decided to keep an eye on you," Atem finished up. "After all, there must have been some reason a card from another dimension chose you, right?"

Judai was stunned into silence.

"Ah, here we are," Atem said after another moment. He started downward, dragging Judai along with him.

They were above the Roman Coliseum. Well, the ruins of it, anyway.

Judai looked around a bit, getting his bearings. "So, what are we doing here?" he asked.

"We're here to see the god of rainbows," Atem answered.

Judai thought about it for a moment. He thought he'd heard of a god of rainbows in some book he'd read when he was a kid.

"Iris?" he asked, confused.

Atem laughed. "I'm surprised you know that name. No. This god's not of this world."

"Then why are we _on_ this world?"

"Because the god is resting inside here. Come on."

Atem led the way into a tunnel beneath the coliseum, stopping in front of a stone wall. There wasn't anything particularly interesting about this wall, save that it was a dead end; but Atem knelt down, his left foot in front of him, his right arm across his chest, and his head lowered. His eyes were closed. It took Judai a moment to realize he was bowing. A look at Winged Kuriboh revealed that it was doing the Kuriboh equivalent of a bow—its face was tilted downward, eyes closed, and it was sitting on the ground.

With no idea what else to do, Judai followed Atem's lead, kneeling beside him. Turning his head slightly, he whispered, "What are we doing, exactly?"

"Shh," Atem murmured. "You'll see."

Suddenly the wall began to glow red, which faded to orange, then yellow, green, blue...it was swapping colors constantly, getting to the end of the rainbow before starting over.

Atem stood up and took a few steps forward, saying, "Great Guardian of the Rainbow. I have brought you what you asked for."

A roar came from the wall. At least, Judai thought it came from the wall. He didn't see anything else that could have let out that sound. The ground shook a bit, and some rocks fell from above.

Atem turned to look at Judai. "Don't be shy, boy. Come a little closer. It wants a better look at you."

Getting up, Judai said, "Uh, yeah, okay."

He stepped forward hesitantly, not even sure what it was he was approaching.

Winged Kuriboh bumped into his back, encouraging him forward. _"Don't be nervous,"_ he said in what Judai now knew was a language that few could understand. _"It won't hurt you!"_

The brunette stepped forward, more sure of himself now. As he did so, he felt as if something were staring at him. He looked up and saw orange glowing eyes looking back at him. Moaning noises were coming from the wall, like some sort of giant animal. It was staring at him sadly.

As Judai stared back, he briefly wondered if he was just losing his mind. A wall with eyes? Making noise?

Suddenly the eyes vanished and another roar came from the wall—longer this time. Immediately after the roar, a colorful rock in the shape of a dragon head came out of the wall. It floated over to Judai, stopping right in front of him. A blue light appeared, around his neck, connected to the stone. As the light faded, the blue object was still there—a string around his neck.

"What's this?" Judai asked, taking the stone in his hand and looking at it more closely. _A wall...in Rome...just gave me a necklace... Now I know why they say to just do as the Romans do when in Rome. This place is weird._

"I see you've received the first piece," Atem said, walking over to Judai as the wall stopped glowing.

Winged Kuriboh flew over, excited. _"Kuri kuri kuri!"_ it cried as it looked at the stone, waving its front feet around.

"First piece?" Judai asked.

Atem nodded. "In order to return you to the land of the living, you must first meet with the gods and receive their gifts to you. Once you have, then all you'll have to do is connect them together, and you'll be alive again in no time."

Somewhere along the line of that explanation, Judai got lost. He figured he'd just go with it for now, though. "Okay..."

"Come," Atem said. "We have a long journey ahead of us if we intend to visit the second god."

Taking Judai's hand again, the pharaoh darted straight upward into space.

* * *

While Judai was taking a field trip to Rome, the others had gone to confront Manjoume. Asuka and Sho joined Misawa and Kenzan, who were trying to talk sense into him out in front of the Red dorm. They _were_ here to get him so that they could head out for Judai's funeral, but...

"Manjoume!" Asuka exclaimed. "That's enough! Why are you acting like this!?"

Sho looked in horror. Manjoume was standing there in a white version of the Obelisk uniforms. The others stood around, varying degrees of confusion and shock on their faces.

"Why, Tenjoin-kun?" he asked. "Why do you ask? How else should I be acting?"

"Well, you could try acting like yourself and stop preaching about the greatness of the light," Misawa suggested.

"Wait, what's he been doing?" Sho asked.

"Sho-kun!" Manjoume said, sounding uncharacteristically...friendly? Polite? He wasn't sure what the right word was. "Why are you still here? I thought you were going to board the boat early?"

"Yeah, well, I heard you were acting weird, Manjoume-kun. Why are you wearing white!?"

Manjoume grinned. "I'll tell you, Sho-kun. It's because it's the most beautiful color in the world!" As he spoke, he lifted his hands above his head and tilted his head back. "You should try it, too!" he added, pointing at them all. Throwing his arms back up, he said, "You all should! The light of truth will illuminate everything!"

"Here he goes again!" Kenzan said. "Has everyone lost it lately?" He eyed Sho as he said this.

"Manjoume, just shut up, will you!?" Asuka demanded. "And get out of that ridiculous uniform!"

"Yeah!" Sho agreed. "I _hate_ white! Did you forget that the guy who killed Aniki was dressed all in _white!?_"

"You don't understand! It wasn't that man who killed him! It was his destiny to go!"

Not too far away, Kathleen was walking by with the purple-haired girl who had burst into tears the other day. Their arms were filled with flowers for those heading off to the funeral.

Kathleen stopped, looking at the crowd gathered at the Red dorm. "Say, Haru? Any guesses what that's all about?"

Orange eyes turned toward the dorm as the purple-haired girl, Haru, shook her head. "Not a one. Hmm..."

"WHAT!?" Sho bellowed.

"ARE YOU INSANE, MANJOUME!?" Kenzan demanded. "HOW COULD YOU SAY SUCH A THING!?"

"Ooh. That so didn't sound good," Kathleen said.

"Oh, boy! What's going on!?"

The girls dropped their flowers, running over to see what all the commotion was about.

"What's going on, guys?" Haru asked.

"Yeah! 'Cause that so didn't sound right." Silently, Kathleen added, _Wow. They sure feel mad! Wonder what he said?_

Asuka glared daggers at Manjoume, pointing at him. "Manjoume over here just said Judai's death was _supposed_ to happen!"

"YOU KILLED HIM, DIDN'T YOU!?" Sho bellowed.

Manjoume backed up slightly, startled. "What makes you say that!?"

Kenzan, his hands made into claws, approached Manjoume slowly, threateningly. "BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU JUST SAID! I was wondering why that _man_ wouldn't speak!"

"You're wrong!" Manjoume protested, his eyes wide.

"I DON'T THINK SO, AND NOW YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR IT!" Kenzan bellowed, letting out a roar as he lunged at the accused murderer. His eyes changed, too, turning reptilian as he did this.

Sho pounced as well, adding, "YEAH! WHAT _HE_ SAID! ANIKI WAS MY BEST FRIEND, AND YOU TOOK HIM FROM ME! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"

"Wait a minute, Manjoume's a _murderer!?_" Haru shrieked, her hands covering her mouth in shock.

Kathleen backed away as the fight got out of control, sighing. "Why me?"

She pulled out her PDA, calling her least favorite person on the whole island.

Aki answered with, "Oh, for the love of—What do _you_ want?"

"Nice talking to you, too," Kathleen said sarcastically. "Think you can get over to the Red dorm, like, right now?"

"I s-swear!" Manjoume cried in the background. "It wasn't me!"

"LIAR!" Sho and Kenzan retorted.

"I'M NOT LYING! AAAHHH!"

Aki, having not heard that, asked, "Why? What's going on? Somebody else dead?"

"No! But if you don't get over here in five seconds or less someone might be!"

Aki didn't answer. The screen went black, though, as if she had hung up.

"Aki!? Hello!?" Kathleen said. Realizing she'd been ditched, she put the PDA away. "Great. As _usual,_ she don't care at all!" she said, throwing her arms in the air in exasperation. Then she cupped her hands in front of her mouth. "HEY! QUIT IT! IT WASN'T HIM!"

Too busy yelling, they didn't hear her. "SAY HI TO ANIKI FOR ME!" Sho said.

As this got worse and worse, Kathleen danced around frantically. "Oh, great, oh great, oh great! What do I do!?"

"OI!" called Aki as she arrived on the scene. "WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!?"

No answer, save Manjoume's cries of agony and the cries of vengeance from the other two.

Kathleen, though, was a goldmine of information. She didn't even need to breathe, apparently. "What's going on? What's going on!? They think he killed Judai! That's what's going on! And he so didn't, and—"

While Aki had wanted answers, she would rather have gotten them from a calmer source instead of a frantic Kathleen dancing around in her face. Well, she had enough information now, so she rushed passed the rambling red-head and into the chaotic cloud that was the fight between the three.

In moments, she flung Sho off of Manjoume, followed shortly by Kenzan. The two landed in a heap. They started to get up, but a shadow looming over them made them both stop.

"What the hell are you two doing...?" Akiko said very slowly, pausing between each word—a dangerous form of speech with her. The deadly look on her face contributed to the effect, and there was no doubt—they were in deep shit.

The dead men looked up at her before clearing the lumps out of their throats.

Kathleen, meanwhile, ran over to the bloody heap that was Manjoume. "Manjoume! Are you okay!?"

Checking him over, she wasn't sure where the worst of the damage was. He had a bloody nose, a black eye forming, blood dripping from his mouth...and that was just his face! The rest wasn't much better. Blood was staining that white uniform he was wearing, and she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know where it was coming from.

"Kathleen!" Haru called. "He's a murder—"

"Don't _even_ finish that, Haruko!" Aki cut her off with a glare.

"Yeah! It ain't true! And even if it was, there's this old saying: an eye for an eye makes the whole _world_ go blind! Get it!?"

"Hey. I never said I wanted them to do that!" Asuka defended.

"You didn't tell them to stop, either," Misawa pointed out.

"So!? Neither did you!"

He gave an awkward laugh, sweating.

Akiko put a hand to her face. "Oh, for the love of—What did he say that made you guys think he killed Judai, anyway?"

"H-he t-told u-us t-that it w-as An-Anik-Aniki's d-destiny t-to d-die?" Sho stammered.

"Really?" she asked, eying the offender. "Still, that doesn't make him a murderer—it just makes him a real jerk. Or crazy." Muttering, she added, "Hell, that last one seems about right. He's taking this worse than _Sho_..."

They heard Kathleen in the background, begging Misawa to get Manjoume to the infirmary.

"O-oh," Kenzan said. "Okay, then." Sneaking off, he started, "I'm...just gonna go—"

"Hold up, Tyranno Kenzan," Aki said, her voice filled to the brim with venom.

He cringed and froze where he was.

Misawa sighed before pulling Manjoume onto his back and running off for the infirmary, with Kathleen following behind.

"Didn't you just beat the tar out of your friend?" Aki asked. "Do you think we _need_ more murderers on this island? Isn't it bad enough somebody killed your friend and hasn't been found?"

The two were sweating buckets, knowing they were in serious trouble now. They would be lucky, they were sure, to get out of this one with all of their limbs still attached. "Y-yes?" they both said, hoping that was the right answer.

Asuka watched for a second. _Uh-oh. Akiko's not going to let them off easy for this. I'd better get out of here._

She walked off—it wasn't like she could stop her, and her wrath wasn't something that anyone would ever want to see. Even the students who were really eager to watch fights ran when Akiko was about to pulverize someone.

"Then, _maybe_, you shouldn't be _trying_ to give that guy a run for his money?"Akiko said, her tone getting more dangerous by the second. "At least Judai probably didn't even _feel_ it—_you_ guys just went ape on Manjoume!"

"RUN, KENZAN-KUN!" Sho shrieked, getting to his feet and running for his life.

"R-right!" Kenzan said, following his lead.

"GET BACK HERE!" Akiko bellowed, running after the two of them.


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own Yugioh GX.**

Kathleen stopped by Akiko's room later that night (after the funeral trip had been delayed by a day due to the incident). "Aki? You calmed down yet?"

"Yeah," Akiko said, opening the door. Though she didn't look very calm. "What do you want?" Muttering, she said, "Stupid boys. What, they think killing Manjoume will bring Judai back?"

"Just thought you'd wanna know Manjoume's going to be just fine," Kathleen said. "Though he _did_ just now get out of surgery." She sweat.

Akiko crossed her arms, leaning in the doorway of her room. "I can understand they're upset about Judai's death, but they shouldn't be jumping to conclusions like that! I mean, seriously! Killing Manjoume won't help anything."

"Yeah. I know. But I seriously don't think they _were_ thinking anymore when that started." Silently, she added, _Actually, I _know_ they weren't!_

"Good point." Akiko sighed. "This stinks. Judai's dead, and now his friends are losing their minds."

Kathleen gasped—that sounded uncharacteristically caring of Akiko. "So are you actually saying you _can_ care about something!?" she asked, sounding hopeful.

Akiko barely contained her anger as a vein in her head started pulsing.

"Oh, wow! Wait til I tell Haru!" Kathleen said, running off.

Akiko called after her, "She already knows, ya dumb ginger!"

Kathleen didn't hear her and began frantically knocking on Haruko's door way down the hall. "Haruko! Hey! Wake up!"

Haruko opened the door in a pink nightgown, rubbing her eyes, and yawned, "What is it, Kathleen?"

Akiko rolled her eyes, tuning out of that conversation. "Ginger Kat's brain needs some air."

The sound of someone crying filled the halls, now that Akiko was no longer listening to the pointless babbling of Kathleen. It seemed to be coming from two doors down—Asuka's room.

"Hm?" Akiko slowly headed down the hall toward the sound, listening. Sure enough, it was coming from Asuka's room.

"Stupid!" she heard from the other side of the door. "You had to do it, didn't you!? _Now_ look what you've done!"

Akiko knocked. "Asuka? You okay?"

There was a hiccup from the other side, then, barely passing off as calm, Asuka answered, "Y-yeah! I'm fine!"

Akiko hesitated for a moment, not really wanting to pry. "You sure?" she asked at last. "Because I'm here if you need someone to talk to."

"I'm fine, okay!? Go back to bed, Akiko!" came the annoyed response.

"If you say so."

Kathleen walked by then, looking stunned. She didn't even seem to notice Akiko standing there. "I can't believe Haruko already _knew_ that! I guess even heartless stiffs have a caring point."

Again Akiko had a vein pulsing in her head for a second. "There's a difference between being heartless and thinking people shouldn't cry over stupid things, Ginger Kat," she muttered.

"Are you still here!?" Asuka demanded, sounding angry. "Go away, already!"

"Okay, fine, but if you do need to talk, I'll be up all night." Walking off, she muttered, "Stupid Kathleen..."

As she made her way back to her room, she heard sniffling—Asuka was still crying. _There's no way she's really okay... _Shrugging it off, she thought, _Oh, well. It's her choice to cry alone all night._

In spite of this fact, she knew that Kathleen's insulting remark wouldn't be the only thing keeping her up all night.

* * *

A few days later, after what many of them were sure would be the saddest funeral they ever attended, the entire gang was eating at the red dorm—well, except for Manjoume. It was fried shrimp day. Normally Sho would scarf that down, but today he was just staring at it lifelessly, sitting at the table that he and Judai used to share.

"I still can't believe Manjoume said that," Asuka said, sitting at the next table over with her brother. "I mean, what did Judai ever do to him?"

"Beat him in duels," answered Haruko from beside Sho. "That's all I can think of."

Leaning against the wall by the door, Akiko said, "I still think this whole thing just made him go off the deep end..."

"I guess that's right," Misawa admitted, his arms crossed. "But he still didn't need to be so mean about it."

Sho stared at his food for another moment before saying, "Aniki used to love fried shrimp..."

Haruko looked at him sadly. "Oh, Sho..."

In the back of the room, Kathleen had her nose in a book labeled as a diary and a pencil in hand. She did, however, try to help by saying, "I know how you feel, Sho. I lost someone super important to me awhile ago, too. It's hard to go on without them, but you'll get over this someday. I did."

Sho didn't answer her. _His soul's even left me now... Aniki... _He sniffled.

"Aw, please don't cry, Sho," Haruko said, hugging him. "I know it hurts, but it'll be okay."

"...Aniki..."

Standing behind Sho, Kenzan looked down at him sadly. "Marufuji-senpai..."

Fubuki looked to his sister and asked, "So how you holding up, sis?"

She gasped, remembering her last encounter with Judai—her _very_ last.

**He stood there in silence for a moment before asking, "How are you holding up?"**

She covered her ears and slammed her eyes shut, trying to block out that memory. "STOP IT, NII-SAN!"

Everyone but Sho looked at her, concerned.

"Asuka! What did I say?" her startled brother asked.

She turned away, tears streaming down her face. "Just stop it!"

He looked at her sadly as she continued to cry. "Asuka..."

"Wow," Misawa said. "And here I thought she was stronger than that."

Kathleen slammed her diary down on the table. "Misawa!"

"What!? What's wrong with that!?"

"Stronger?" Akiko asked, raising an eyebrow. "Newsflash, brainiac, she lost someone really close to her!"

"I know that! But so did I! And this is the first time I've seen her like this since the day it actually happened!"

Haruko looked at her with concern, still hugging Sho. Akiko eyed her as well, thinking about what she had heard the other night.

Kathleen took one look at Akiko's expression and started writing in her diary, mumbling as she did so, "Now...she's...looking...at...Asuka...concerned..."

Akiko ignored her—she had figured that "diary" wasn't what it appeared. She walked over to Asuka and put a hand on her shoulder.

"She...just...got...up...and...put...a...hand...on...Asuka's...shoulder...," Kathleen muttered, writing it in her notebook.

Asuka hiccuped, trying to get a grip. "I-I'm okay..." She sniffled once, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"You sure, sis? What'd I say, anyway?"

Asuka just shook her head, her eyes closed. "I-it's nothing. Just forget it, okay?"

Fubuki looked at her confused. Akiko's expression said she didn't believe her, but she didn't say anything.

"She...doesn't...seem...to...believe...her," came the muttered notes from the girl who clearly couldn't write without speaking. "But...is...acting...normal...again... Man, Aki sure is a strange specimen."

That last muttered comment was where Akiko drew the line.

"Doctor Summers, this isn't the time to be acting like an ass," she said, irritated.

Her eyes closed, Kathleen shut her book and put it down calmly. "I'm sorry. What did you just call me?" she asked, her tone slightly threatening.

"I'm not a 'specimen,' and I find it extremely insulting that you're sitting there _studying_ me. _Especially_ when you know _nothing_ about me!"

"Uh-huh," Kathleen answered, standing up with her hands on her hips. "And _that _excuses the _swear_ word? Do I need to use my mouth medicine again?"

Akiko backed down some, not wanting that crap used on her again—it had happened before, and Kathleen's homemade, non-toxic soap was horrible.

"Well, you're acting like a real jerk, at least! And don't say that I'm swearing when I'm just telling the truth! I'm not a science experiment, and these people are in mourning! You're supposed to be here to help them through it, not to offend me!"

"I _was_ helping! I just don't know what to say to someone who's just had an emotional breakdown because they bottled them up for too long!" She eyed Asuka as she said this.

Asuka looked away.

"Wait," Misawa said. "Are you saying Asuka's really as bad as Sho, then? But that's not possible! Is—"

"I'm not as bad off as Sho!" Asuka cut him off, glaring at him.

He cringed, shutting up.

She directed her glare to Kathleen next, standing up. Her hands were clenched into fists at her sides. "And you! Who ever said I was bottling up my emotions!? I sure as hell didn't!"

Fubuki cringed away from her.

"That's not what my gift is saying," Kathleen said. Muttering, she added, "Really, you may be _worse_ off than Sho, even."

Apparently shaking with rage, Asuka said, "Why...you..."

Asuka looked about ready to pounce Kathleen and send _her_ to the infirmary next. As entertaining as Akiko would have found that, she felt that she should intervene before this got too out of hand.

"Kat, shut up." She grabbed Asuka's arm, adding, "As for you, let's head outside so you can calm down."

Without another moment's hesitation, Akiko dragged Asuka out of the cafeteria, shutting the door behind them.

"Wow," Kenzan said. "I've never seen her this angry before!"

Sometime during this whole thing, Haruko had started gripping Sho like a teddy bear—a testament to how scary Asuka had just been.

* * *

"Akiko!" Asuka yelled. "How many times have I gotta tell you!? I'm—"

"You're not 'fine,' don't give me that crap again," Akiko cut her off. "You cry yourself to sleep every night, you just had a total breakdown in there, and you were ready to rip Kathleen to shreds for doing what she does—bluntly stating the truth. Besides, I never said you weren't this time."

"Yeah, well—" She cut herself off and looked away, pouting with her arms crossed.

"Asuka, nobody ever said you had to be Superman or something. It's okay to cry, and it's not a crime to admit that you're upset. This sort of thing is never easy on anyone, and bottling it up inside isn't good for you. If you won't tell your friends, at least tell me. I'm not a blabbermouth, like Kathy or Haru. I won't tell anyone, I promise."

Asuka's eyes watered up."I...I..."

Akiko just waited patiently for the other girl to decide whether she was actually going to take her up on her offer. Finally, though, Asuka took a deep breath, pushing the tears back for the moment.

"Look, I'm sorry for snapping at everyone in there," she said. "And maybe you're right. Maybe I am missing him more than I let on, but I'll be fine, okay? You don't have to keep butting in all the time. I can take care of myself, you know."

"I know you can, Asuka, but we're here to help you. You don't need to go it all alone."

"I'll be fine. J-just...leave me alone!"

She ran off, and Akiko could swear she heard her crying again as she did.

She sighed. "Samejima really needs to find a grief counselor...and make it mandatory for Judai's friends to see him."

* * *

Out past Jupiter in the middle of nowhere, Atem and Judai stopped. As they floated there doing nothing, Judai couldn't help but wonder what they were doing out there.

"So...now what?" he asked.

Winged Kuriboh looked around, confused. _"Kuri?"_

"Be patient," Atem said. "It can take awhile to find someone out here, you know."

Judai hesitated for a moment before saying, "Okay..."

Ten minutes passed uneventfully. Everything was silent, nothing moved. Judai was just starting to think he was wasting his time when six beams of light started flying around, coming from all directions—pink, blue, green, orange, white, and gray. He watched for a moment in amazement, along with Winged Kuriboh.

Suddenly the lights stopped, a circle of colorful orbs surrounding Judai. Then they transformed into...baby animals in cocoons? A larva, a pink dolphin, a baby bird, a little mole, a purple and white kitten, and...a small glowing person. All of them looked happy to see the brunette.

"Uh...who are these guys?" Judai asked.

Atem smiled and said, "Why, these are the ones we came to see, Judai. It's strange, though." He looked at the creatures before them. "I hadn't expected them to be babies."

The little creatures all made a sound that could only be described as a chirp, sounding happy. The kitten moved over to Judai and sniffed him a bit.

Judai looked down at the little creature, still quite lost. "Hi?"

The others all got excited and started dancing around him in circles, chirping happily. The little kitten joined in, too. After a moment, they stopped and resumed their original positions. Well, except for the mole—it stayed beside Judai, smiling. Judai looked around at them all, his gaze stopping on the mole at his side.

Atem laughed. "You know, I'm getting the feeling that they already know you, kid. And not just as the troublemaker the gods know you as, either."

As if to prove him right, the dolphin came over to Judai, rubbed against him affectionately, then headed to rejoin the others.

Judai kept staring at them, a sense of deja vu creeping up on him. "You know, come to think of it, they do seem familiar..."

They all chirped and nodded, then clustered together to form a tight circle. They started to glow in rainbow colors before a single card appeared, the front still glowing white. Judai headed over to them and took the card, which glowed brighter for a second before dimming to reveal a very familiar drawing that then became an actual card.

Recognition lit Judai's face as he exclaimed, "Neos!"

"Wait," Atem said. "Are you saying you know that card?"

"Yeah, I drew this when I was a kid."

"Hmm. That's interesting. So are you saying you made that monster up?"

"Well, I guess. KaibaCorp was doing this thing, and they wanted kids to send in their card designs so that they could send them into space, and they'd become cards. I didn't really get it, but I sent in some card designs."

It had never crossed his mind that he'd encounter these cards again in space, though.

The little cocoon animals all gathered around him as he finished, chirping happily again.

"So I'm guessing these little spirits are some of them?" Atem asked, gesturing to the creatures.

"Yeah," Judai answered. "I designed these guys."

Atem crossed his arms. "Hmm. How very strange. These guys are the ones who we were supposed to meet. They were sent by their god to grant you its gift."

Judai just stared at him blankly before blinking a couple of times.

The Neos card started glowing again, getting brighter and brighter. Suddenly it emitted a burst of blinding light, making Atem and Judai cover their eyes. When the light died down, there was a rainbow stone like the last one floating around. If it hadn't shown up so mysteriously, Judai would have just thought it was a small asteroid.

"So. That's the god's true gift," Atem said. "I wonder what that card was for, then?"

Judai stared at the stone for a minute before reaching out and grabbing it.

"Well, then. That should be everything. Now all that's left is to attach the pieces to one another."

Judai looked from one to the other of the two stones he had. It didn't look like attaching them would be all that easy—at least, not without some super glue and possibly a file of some sort.

"Great," he said. "So how do I do that?"

"How? I thought you already knew that. You have the necessary tools, after all."

Judai just stared at him again, thinking that all he had was two rainbow rocks, a new card, and a very confusing spirit guide.

Atem sighed. "Okay. These two stones have the power to merge into a completely new stone that you can use to regain your human life. But, in order for them to do that, a certain type of magic must be used on them. Do you understand?"

The blank stare and confused blink told him all he needed to know. He sighed again.

"Judai. You're impossible. Do you remember anything you learned last year?"

The brunette thought about how magic and what he had learned last year connected, and then it clicked. "Alchemy?"

"Yes. What about it?"

"It takes something and turns it into something else. And fusion is alchemy, too."

Atem nodded, smiling. "Now you're getting it."

"'Kay, but I don't _know_ alchemy! That's Daitokuji-sensei!"

"You don't need to. All you need is that book of yours. It contains the true secrets of alchemy. Besides, he once called you the 'ultimate alchemist,' right? You've got what it takes, kid."

The little cocoon creatures nodded in agreement.

"Uh, okay, but there's a problem...," Judai said. "See, that book was at my house, and I'm dead, so it might not even _be_ there anymore? My parents might have gotten rid of it by now."

"Hmm. Now _that's_ a problem," Atem said, crossing his arms thoughtfully. "Alright. Wait here. I may still know a way to find it."

With that, he disappeared, leaving Judai in space with a bunch of space babies. That is, until they all chirped and scattered. Then all he had was a winged hairball.

* * *

Akiko, meanwhile, was heading to her room, intending to do her homework. Those plans went out the window, though, when Asuka's voice came from down the hall.

"For the last time, girls, I'm fine!"

Akiko sighed. "Now what?"

She turned around and headed for Asuka's room.

"But, Asuka!" Kathleen protested. "You totally snapped yesterday!"

"Yeah!" added Momoe. "And today, you kept spacing out in class!"

"Then there was last night at dinner...," Junko added.

"And Akiko only lives a couple doors down, and she's been losing sleep! So either something's wrong with you or one of your other neighbors!" Haruko finished.

Asuka growled. "How many times do I have to say it!? Leave me alone, get out of my room, and oh, yeah! I'm fine!"

"But Asuka!"

"Get out of here, already!"

"But—"

"Alright, ladies, leave her alone," Akiko said, leaning in the doorway.

The room's occupants all looked up at her. Most were sitting on her couch, clearly not planning on leaving any time soon. Asuka stood there, looking irritated.

"Why?" Kathleen asked. "'Cause she's upset, and we shouldn't care? We're not all like you, you know?"

"Yeah!" Momoe added. "And Asuka-san's—"

"No," Akiko cut her off. "Because, clearly, she doesn't want to talk about it, and you're all just going to get hit. It's her choice whether she talks about it or not. You can't force her."

"We know that," Junko said. "But—"

"But what? You're going to try anyway?"

"Well, we're worried about her!"

"I'm getting real sick of people accusing me of having a problem!" Asuka said. "I'll be fine if you'll just quit bugging me!"

"Asuka, you just lost your _boyfriend!_" Haruko exclaimed. "Don't pretend you're fine! You're _not!_"

"WHO EVER SAID HE WAS MY BOYFRIEND!? WE WERE NEVER TOGETHER!" She crossed her arms, looking down, and sadly muttered, "No. Never..."

"Asuka-san..."

Haruko looked quite guilty all of a sudden for having upset her so much.

Akiko hitched a thumb over her shoulder. "Haru, get. Now."

"Right." She scurried out.

"Oh! Will you _all_ just get out!?" Asuka demanded. "I've got a report on dueling strategies to do!"

She turned away from them, looking out the window as she tried not to cry.

"Asuka-san..."

"Oh!" Kathleen said, getting the hint. "That's right! And _I've_ gotta study for a super long test, too! But, uh, you sure you'll be okay?"

"Just get out!" Asuka demanded, trembling from either anger or sadness.

Kathleen stood up, saying, "Well, okay. See ya later, then!" And then she hurried out of the room.

"But—" Momoe and Junko started.

"OUT, YOU TWO!" Akiko bellowed, pointing out the door.

They sprung up quite suddenly, saying, "Yes, ma'am!" Then they bolted from the room.

Asuka was still trying to contain herself, thinking of what Haruko had just brought up. No, she and Judai had never been together. Though she had been coming to like him more and more the longer she knew him. He was gone now, though, so there was no chance of finding out if it could have been more.

"Th-thanks, Akiko," she said, turning back to the other girl and smiling slightly. "They w-were driving me crazy..."

The faint smile didn't hide the sadness, but Akiko wasn't going to press—after all, she had just driven off the other three for that very reason. "No problem."

"Ahem," said a man in the hallway. "Am I interrupting something?"

Asuka looked up, and Akiko glanced over her shoulder. A man with shoulder-length brown hair stood there, dressed in a white tunic and headdress. The kohl around his eyes marked him as Egyptian, but he didn't seem modern. In fact, there was something about him that just seemed...ancient.

"Hello," the man said. "Are you Asuka Tenjoin?"

"Yes. And who are you?"

"I am a messenger from the great beyond," he answered. "I've come to deliver a message to you."

"The great beyond?" Asuka asked, confused.

The man nodded. "I have a message for you about Judai." Glancing at Akiko, he asked, "Would you mind leaving us? This is a private message."

Akiko shrugged—this had gotten way too weird for her, and a private message about Judai for Asuka...well, she could only think of one thing that could mean. "Whatev," she said, stepping out of the room.

The man closed the door behind her, leaving Akiko to only speculate as to what that message was about.


	6. Chapter 6

**I don't own Yugioh GX.**

Atem returned, laughing once. "And here I thought that cave-in crushed that old thing," he said, a smile on his face.

"Huh?" Judai asked, completely confused.

"Well, Judai," said the pharaoh by way of answer. "I've got good news and bad news. What would you rather hear first?"

Deciding that being dead and getting more bad news would have to be rather difficult—meaning it would be the worst news ever—he said, "Better start with the good news."

"Okay, then. Well, the good news is I found your book."

"Really!?"

Atem nodded.

_"__Kuri kuri?"_ Winged Kuriboh asked, which Judai silently translated: "Then what's the bad news?"

Whether he understood Kuriboh or not, Atem did a good job answering the hairball's question. "The bad news is it's been auctioned off to the highest bidder, and that person just so happens to be a psychic. She's currently trying to sell it in her store for twice the price she got it for."

Judai's shoulders slumped. Even if he personally had that kind of money, he was dead. "Great... How am I supposed to get it back?"

"Hmm. That's a good question. Do you know anyone who'd be willing to buy it for you?"

Judai thought about it for a second. "Uh... If they could afford it, my friends probably would... Just not Manjoume, he's apparently lost his mind..."

"Hmm. Do you think any of them can afford it, then?"

As soon as Atem asked, Judai knew that the answer was Manjoume. The problem being that Manjoume was nuts. He shrugged.

"Probably not anyone at school... I don't know much about their home lives. Hmm... Maybe the Kaiser..."

Being a Pro duelist, Ryo might have had the money. Though Judai couldn't be sure. He shook his head. "I don't know."

Atem sighed. "Well, luckily for you, I may know one guy who can help us." Muttering, he added, "Although he ain't rich." Louder, he said, "Come on. Let's go."

Wanting to get back to Earth quickly, Atem decided it was high time he taught Judai how to do certain things that spirits could do, such as travel more quickly. He did so as fast as was possible with the dim brunette, and the two of them returned to Earth. At least, Atem hoped that was where Judai would end up.

* * *

Back at Duel Academy, Sho stood on the cliff, silently watching the waves far below.

**"****I don't want to see you drop out," **Judai's words echoed in his mind.

He looked down and sighed. "Sorry, Aniki. I hate to disappoint you, but I can't stay here like this... So I guess there's only one thing left to do..."

Haruko was walking by with a couple of boys from Blue—Fubuki and a tall, well-built blond. She was hanging off the latter's arm when he looked off to the side to see Sho with his arms over his head, as if he were stretching.

"Hey, babe," he said, pointing at the boy in the yellow jacket. "What exactly is that little dude doing?"

She and Fubuki looked just in time to see Sho do a perfect swan dive off the cliff, heading for the sea below.

Haruko shrieked, running over. "Sho!"

It wasn't high enough up that the fall itself would kill him, but she knew that he wasn't just going for a harmless little swim, especially since Fubuki seemed just as concerned.

"Sho-kun!" He took off his shirt quickly, handing it to the other boy as he said, "Hold this!"

"Wha!?" he said, taking it. "Dude! You're not thinking of—"

He never finished that before Fubuki ran over and jumped off the cliff after Sho.

* * *

Some time later, all of his friends were gathered outside of the Red Dorm, along with Haruko and Akiko. Sho had a towel wrapped around his shoulders, sitting on the last step.

"Geez! Marufuji-senpai!" Kenzan exclaimed. "What were you thinking!?"

Sho looked down. "I don't know..."

"You had me worried sick!" Haruko scolded angrily. "Don't scare me like that!"

He was quiet for a moment before saying, "I'm sorry..."

"Sho. Why did you do that, anyway?" Misawa asked. "You _know_ you can't swim!"

"I know."

"Then why'd you do it!?" Asuka demanded. "You weren't thinking of—"

"Maybe..."

"That's stupid, Sho," Akiko said. "Think about how that would make everyone else feel. And Judai, how would he feel if he knew what you had just tried?"

Sho shrugged and said, "He probably wouldn't care..."

Asuka gasped. "Sho-kun!"

"That's it!" Fubuki said, running off. "I'm calling Ryo!"

"And what makes you think that, Marufuji-senpai?"

"Because he didn't care when he left me..."

As he said that, he thought back to Judai's words the last time he'd seen him. **"Sho... If I left you, why am I here now, telling you not to drop out? I may not be here anymore physically, but I'm still with you in spirit. And I don't want to see you drop out."**

Muttering, Sho said, "I should've just dropped out..."

"Sho, he didn't leave you on purpose," Asuka said.

Sho didn't answer, which told them that he didn't believe them.

"Sho! How can you be like that!?" Misawa demanded. "It's not his fault he died!"

"No. But it is his fault he lied..."

"Lied about what?" Haruko asked.

Again, he didn't answer.

"Sho. I don't understand," Asuka said. "What did he promise you that his death kept him from keeping?"

"Yeah!" Kenzan added. "And what was so important about it, anyway?"

For a minute, they all thought he wasn't going to answer. Then, finally, he said, "He didn't promise me anything before he died..."

Before they could try to get more information out of him, a Blue student ran past them, yelling, "Run for your lives! Manjoume's on a rampage!"

Sho looked up slightly. Everyone else turned, curious and concerned.

"What in the world was _that_ all about?" Misawa asked.

Sho stood up, letting the towel fall from around his shoulders. Asuka turned to him.

"Sho-kun."

After a brief silence, he said, "We better check that out..." He started walking toward the Blue Dorm as he added, "More people may be dying..."

His friends all looked at each other before following.

* * *

In Kyoto, Atem was just glad that Judai had not only managed to make it back to Earth but had also managed to make it to the right location. In front of them was a fairly normal, two-story house. The noise, however, would not be considered "normal" for most people.

"Kids!" a woman screamed, heard clearly from the street. "Settle down! Don't _make_ me call your father!"

Atem laughed slightly. "Well. I see this place hasn't changed any since Yugi and I started playing babysitter."

The woman called for her husband as Atem was saying this. Whatever those kids were doing must have been pretty bad since, moments later, they heard a man yelling.

"Tatiana! Joe! What's going on!?"

Judai was glad that wasn't _his_ dad—he sounded really angry.

"Uh, n-nothing, Dad!" a small boy said. "W-we're being good!"

"Y-yeah!" a young girl agreed. "I'm, like, so not do-doing anything wr-wrong!"

Atem laughed again, which led Judai to believe that this was normal for these people. "Well, come on, Judai," he said to the boy. "We won't get anywhere standing out here all day."

He calmly headed into the house, heading through a wall on the second story. Judai followed, somewhat stunned.

He found himself in the master bedroom. There was a king-sized bed, with...a man's clothes lying on it. He'd been in the shower when his wife called him to deal with the kids.

"We'll wait here while he deals with that," Atem said, leaning against the wall. "Shouldn't take long."

From downstairs, Judai could hear more yelling, along with what distinctly sounded like two small children begging for their lives. If this person was threatening his kids, Judai didn't really think he wanted to meet him.

Winged Kuriboh seemed to be thinking the same thing. _"I don't know about this... This guy safe?"_ it asked, which Judai translated for Atem.

The pharaoh just laughed. "He's only dangerous if your name is Tatiana or Joe! Or if you've committed a crime."

"So he's a cop?" Judai asked.

_"__Kuri?"_

Someone came stomping down the hall.

"I'll answer that later!" Atem said urgently. "For now, I need you two to go hide in that closet over there!"

Judai turned to where he was pointing to see double doors leading into a walk-in closet. Winged Kuriboh nodded, then darted out of sight. Judai followed, not sure that being told to hide was a good thing.

The voice of the angry father was heard soon after, heading their way. "Can't believe Joe was actually _trying_ to break that thing! And what's Tatiana doing acting like _that_ at her age!? Geez!"

The door flew open, and a man with blond hair and brown eyes stood there, a towel wrapped around his waist. He stared at the laughing spirit against the wall.

"Hello, Jonouchi," Atem said, grinning. "Long time, no see."

"Atem!" Jonouchi answered, smiling. "Hey, man! What's up?"

"Well, to be honest, I could use your help with something."

"What is it?"

"Promise not to freak out?"

Jonouchi looked at him lamely, asking, "What weird crap's going on now, Atem, and what other ghost did you bring over?"

Atem grinned again, asking, "Now how do you know I brought someone with me?"

"Because, with all the stuff we've been through, you'd have to have brought someone else to even _think_ you could freak me out!"

"Hmm. I suppose you're right," Atem teased. "So does that mean you wanna meet my new friend here?"

"Sure, why not?" Jonouchi answered him, bracing himself for the sudden appearance of another ghost in his bedroom.

Atem looked to the closet and said, "Okay, Judai. You can come out now."

Judai peeked out of the closet, his eyes widening when he saw the blond. "Oh, no way! Katsuya Jonouchi!?" he exclaimed, coming over, excited.

Now, this was a new experience for Jonouchi. He'd never had a random teenage ghost in his house before, especially not one who knew who he was.

"Wait, you know me?" he asked.

"Uh-huh! You're one of the legendary duelists!" Judai answered, nodding excitedly.

Jonouchi put his hands on his hips, looking pleased. "Legendary, huh? Well, it's about time I got some respect around here!" He looked to Atem, who was rolling his eyes. "So who is this kid?"

"I'm sorry," Atem teased. "Do I know you?"

"Ha, ha, funny, Pharaoh."

Atem grinned. "Well, anyway, this kid's name is Judai Yuki. And this may sound strange, but he wasn't supposed to die yet, so we're trying to revive him."

"Uh, yeah, okay," Jonouchi said. "So how exactly are you planning to break the laws of nature? Or were you planning on turning back time? Because that kid looks dead to me, and the dead don't come back to life."

"They do if the gods want them to."

"Wait, what?"

Atem explained the situation to Jonouchi as the man got dressed. Judai, meanwhile, continued staring in awe. Who would have thought dying would cause him to meet two of his heroes?

"Oh, man, this is awesome!" he said, unheard by the two men. "I never thought I'd get to meet any of the legendary duelists, now I'm in Katsuya Jonouchi's house! This is so cool!"

Being the only one hearing him right now, Winged Kuriboh decided to bring Judai back to the matter at hand. And what better way than to point out the obvious?

_"__You know, you're not _really_ in his house, right? I mean, all things considered."_

"Yeah, well...heh." He rubbed his head.

"And that brings us to the reason we're here," Atem finished. "You think you can help us get it back?"

"Well, when you say the fate of the world's on the line, I figure I better help ya out, man!" Jonouchi answered eagerly.

"Great. Thanks."

Jonouchi blinked. "So, wait, what am I supposed to do?"

Atem grinned, hoping Jonouchi wouldn't take this suggestion as badly as he feared he would. "How about you try putting your gaming luck to the real test?"

Growing up, Jonouchi had lived with an alcoholic with a gambling addiction. Knowing that, Atem was certain that Jonouchi, regardless of all the gambling he did in his duels—and that one time with Ryuji—would object to the idea.

That's why it was so surprising when Jonouchi answered, "Awright!"

Atem blinked, stunned. "Alright? Are you serious? But I thought—"

"Hey, it's better than paying that ridiculously high price for some dumb book. The world's on the line here! Besides, I...kinda do that with my deck, anyway," he admitted. "Then there were other times back in school when I... Well, yeah. Let's just keep this one a secret, though, alright? I don't want Mai hearing about this."

Atem smiled and nodded. "Okay."

"Katsuya!" his wife, Mai, called.

Looking irritated, Jonouchi said, "Just give me one sec..." He ran out, then, seconds later, bellowed, "KIDS! SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!"

Atem turned to Judai and said, "Well, Judai. I managed to convince him to help. So don't worry. The guy's luck never fails him where it matters. He'll get your book back in no time."

"Alright!" Judai cheered.

Winged Kuriboh bounced up in the air. _"Kuri!"_

"But remember, Judai," Atem said. "This spell won't last forever. If you want to keep your life, you'll have to keep up your end of the bargain and learn how to stabilize yourself before you crumble to dust, okay?"

"Okay, I got it."

"Katsuya Jonouchi, _where_ do you think _you're_ going!?" Mai yelled from downstairs. "Dinner's almost ready!"

Grinning, Atem said, "Well, we better get going, too, then. Sounds like he just left."

"So where are we going?" Judai asked.

"Well, _I'm_ going home to wait for Jonouchi to get that spell book," Atem answered. "You can do whatever you want until then."

The brunette blinked. "Okay."

Atem put a hand on his shoulder and assured him, "Don't worry, boy. It shouldn't take too long."

He nodded. "Okay."

Atem nodded as well, then floated straight up. "I'll come get you when he gets it. See you later, Judai!"

And, with that, the Nameless Pharaoh was gone.

Winged Kuriboh looked at his partner. _"So now what?"_

"I guess we might as well head back to Duel Academy and wait," Judai said, thinking that he should check up on Sho. For some reason, he had this really bad feeling that something awful was going to happen to his best friend.

The duel spirit nodded, and the two of them headed back to the school.

* * *

Little did Judai know that it was already too late—while he and Atem had been talking with Jonouchi, his friends had confronted Manjoume at the..._White_ Dorm.

Asuka gasped. "What in the world's going on here!?"

What had previously been the Obelisk Blue Boys' Dorm was now pure white. There wasn't a trace of blue left.

Akiko stared. "Good question..."

"It's...all white...," Haruko said.

Sho looked unfazed, unlike the rest of the group. He walked right up to the door and knocked. A couple of Obelisk Blue students answered, but they were both wearing white uniforms.

"Yeah, what do you want?" one asked. "Have you come to join the Society of Light?"

Manjoume had mentioned the Society once...or twice...a minute...for the last few days. But none of them had taken him seriously about it since he had been the only member of this "society" before, as far as they knew.

"Uh...no?" Haruko said, blinking.

"Alright! This has gone far enough!" Kenzan said. "Where's Manjoume!?"

"Relax, Kenzan. I'm right here," Manjoume said, stepping between the two other students.

"Manjoume-san!" one said.

"Can I help you?"

"Manjoume! What is the meaning of this!?" Asuka demanded. "You can't just go around changing everything like this! What's wrong with you!?"

"There's nothing wrong with me! I've simply been reborn! You could be, too, if you'd accept the baptism of the Light."

"Thanks, but no, thanks," Misawa said. "We don't want to be reborn."

"Heh. Well, you should. Especially you, Tenjoin-kun."

"Really? And what's so special about me?"

"Simple. I know," he answered, his tone ominous.

"W-what?"

"I know about your pain, Tenjoin-kun. And I can help you if you'll just trust me to do so."

Asuka backed up, not liking the sound of that. "M-my pain?"

He nodded. "Yes. I know exactly how much pain you're feeling over the death of Judai Yuki. You don't have to care, you know? Why, if you join the Society of Light, that pain will all go away."

Sho looked up slightly, but everyone was too focused on Manjoume to notice.

"Manjoume! I can't believe you would _ever_ suggest something like that!" Asuka exclaimed. The way he was talking, there could only be one thing he was thinking would happen if she joined: not caring about Judai, or... "Forget Judai!? Why would I ever want to do that!?"

His answer confirmed that he was indeed suggesting she do just that. "Because his death's filled you with nothing but pain, and you can't take it anymore, that's why!"

Asuka growled, shaking with rage. "Why, you..."

"So, you see, it's natural you'd want to forget everything to make the pain go away, right?"

If they hadn't all been so busy being mad at Manjoume, someone surely would have noticed that Sho seemed to be listening.

"Am I the only one who thinks you're strangely unfazed by your friend's death after joining, ya jerk?" Akiko said. "And you said it was his destiny to die. I'm thinking your 'great' society killed the guy!"

Haruko started. "Wait, what!? But didn't you say he _wasn't _a murderer!?"

"_He's_ not. He wasn't in the society when Judai died. It was only after he joined that he didn't care anymore."

"Exactly," Manjoume said. "I let him go because I now understand why he died in the first place. We should all be glad he's dead!"

Kenzan's eyes just about popped out of his head in rage. "We should WHAT!? And why the _hell_ should we be glad!?"

"Manjoume's a maniac!" Haruko shrieked. "The Society of Light... What exactly _is_ it!?"

"Why, it's the marvelous group of followers of the Light of Truth!" Manjoume answered. "It reveals everything to a person! For example, it revealed that Judai's death has actually saved him from a deep darkness that was trying to swallow him up."

"A deep darkness?" Misawa asked. "Is that even possible?"

"Okay, I'm thinking Manjoume's joined some weird religious cult," Akiko said.

He turned to Haruko and said, "It can show _you_ some amazing things, too, Haruko. Like how to ease the pain of not being able to find the right guy?"

She backed up slightly. "W-what?"

Manjoume nodded. "That's right. All those worries are erased when one sees the light. It reveals to them all the answers they desire!"

The eager look on Haruko's face made Akiko want to hit her. Instead, she chose the slightly more difficult path of reasoning with her.

"Haru, let's do the math here... Manjoume doesn't care that Judai was murdered. The guy who murdered Judai was dressed all in white, like Manjoume is now that he doesn't care. Ergo, Manjoume joined this society and no longer cared about murderers taking out his friends, even when those murderers appear to be a part of the same society. Light worship equals murder. Is that clear?"

"I already told you!" Manjoume said. "Judai's death was already decided long before he was even born!"

A quiet voice drew their attention as Sho asked, "Can I receive the baptism...?"

His friends all looked at him, incredulous.

"Sho-kun!" Asuka exclaimed.

"Marufuji-senpai! But why!?"

Sho ignored them, his attention focused on Manjoume. "Can I receive the baptism?"

Manjoume looked somewhat pleased. "Of course you can, Sho! All are welcome in the Society of Light."

"Marufuji-senpai, wait a minute. Is this really a good idea?" Kenzan asked.

The blunette took a step forward.

"Sho!" Akiko called, exasperated.

"Think about what you're doing, Sho!" Misawa said. "Do you think Ju—"

"I already know what you're gonna say," Sho cut him off. "'Do I think Judai would want me to join?' Well, guess what. I don't care what you say. He's gone, anyway, so why should he care if I choose to forget? He already did."

Asuka started, "Sho-kun! That's not true! He—"

"I'm ready when you are, Manjoume-kun," Sho said, walking over to stand beside him. "How do I receive the baptism?"

Manjoume smiled. "Right this way, Sho-kun. First, you must—"

They couldn't hear anymore as Manjoume led Sho inside.

Misawa, Asuka, and Kenzan called his name at the same time, charging forward after him. The two students who had opened the door stopped them, suddenly acting like guards.

"Sorry!" one said. "Only those wishing to join are allowed in."

The two laughed evilly, then slammed the doors.

Moments later, an agonizing scream was heard—in Sho's voice.

"Sho!" several of his friends exclaimed.

Haruko danced around a bit, one thumb to her mouth as though she might start biting that nail any second. "Oh, boy..."

_Please don't tell me we've got another body on our hands... I'll never forgive myself if anything's happened to that idiot,_ Akiko thought.

Moments later, the doors swung open. Sho stood there, wearing a white uniform, just like all the others inside. His friends ran over, concerned, along with Akiko and Haruko.

"Sho-kun!" Asuka exclaimed.

"Marufuji-senpai! A-are you okay!?" Kenzan asked.

"Relax, Kenzan," he answered. "I'm fine. You know, Manjoume was right about Aniki. He really _was_ supposed to die that day!"

Misawa, Asuka, and Kenzan all looked at him in horror and shock. "WHAT!?"

"Okay, no light for me," Haruko said, cringing away from him. "You're right, Aki."

"No, she's not," Sho said. "It really _was _his time to go! The angel of death had been floating over him for some time now. The string of life was about to be cut. All went as it was planned since the day of his birth."

Akiko stared as Sho confirmed her worst fears about this organization. "Right, so you're saying he was born to get murdered by a guy dressed all in white? Again, am I the only one who thinks that's just what Light-worshipers think?"

Sho looked up toward the sky, a smile on his face. "I've never understood things so clearly before. It's like my eyes have been opened to all the wondrous things this world has to offer. I feel like I'm at peace now," he said, closing his eyes.

"Sho-kun! What are you talking about!? You're acting really strange."

He looked at Asuka and said, "I'm not acting strange at all, Asuka-san. I've just been reborn. Just as Manjoume promised."

She backed up, unable to believe what was going on. "Sho-kun..."

He had done it. He had chosen to forget about Judai. At least, as a friend. While he still remembered the brunette, he no longer cared that he was dead. Asuka could only imagine how Judai would feel about this if he were there just then.


	7. Chapter 7

**I don't own Yugioh GX.**

While he was stuck waiting for Jonouchi to get that book back for him, Judai headed back to Duel Academy. He intended to check up on his friends and find out how they were doing. When he got back to his old dorm, however, he found that it was entirely empty. Well, not _empty—_there were students. It was just empty of all his friends.

"Huh," he said. "I guess they moved back to their rooms..."

Worried, Winged Kuriboh asked, _"You don't think Sho dropped out, do you?"_

Judai thought about that for a second, worried himself now. "Let's go find him."

* * *

He didn't find Sho, but he did find something...strange.

"White Thunder! White Thunder! White Thunder!" male voices shouted from the direction of the blue dorm.

"Huh? _White_ Thunder?" Curious, he headed toward the dorm in question to find out what was going on.

A nervous boy, dressed in blue, stood in front of the..._white_...dorm, dueling Manjoume, who was wearing white. Come to think of it, most of the students gathered and watching were wearing white, too. With VWXYZ Dragon Catapult Cannon on his field and the opponent's field totally empty, it was clear who was going to win.

"What's going on here?" Judai wondered.

"Now, VWXYZ!" Manjoume commanded. "Attack him directly!"

The monster attacked, dropping the boy's life points to zero. He collapsed face-down as the gathered crowd cheered. Moments later, he stood back up.

But something was different about him.

"That was an amazing duel, Manjoume-san," he said, and, even though he had clearly been scared there at the end, not a trace of that fear remained now. "So am I in the Society now?"

Manjoume nodded. "Yes. You have received the baptism of the light.

"Yes! Alright!" the loser cheered. "I have seen the light!"

"Let's hear it for White Thunder!" one of the boys in the crowd cheered. "He's saved another one!"

They all started chanting for "White Thunder" again, which further unnerved Judai.

"White Thunder...baptism of the light...? Oh, great. Manjoume's the enemy, isn't he?"

Winged Kuriboh looked down. _"Kuri..."_

The brunette glanced around at the crowd, seeing what appeared to be the entire Blue Dorm and then some. Fortunately he didn't see any more of his friends.

"...Geez..."

If the outside of the dorm was white, Judai figured he might as well check the inside. After all, the place was clearly the base of this "light of truth" Manjoume was talking about. He was certain this had to be the enemy since it was so focused on white, and the man who had killed him was also dressed in white.

The inside of the dorm didn't look much better than the outside—the entrance hall was white. There was, however, a painting of Obelisk still hanging on the wall.

He traveled through the dorm, scoping things out and looking for any lights, as he was calling the students here, that hadn't been outside. The halls and rooms appeared fairly the same as the last time he had been here as he poked around now, popping his head into a bunch of empty rooms.

Though they weren't all empty.

He was moving so quickly that he almost missed the boy, moving on to the next room before backtracking. Peeking into that room again, he saw a short boy with blue hair...and he was dressed all in white.

For a brief moment, Judai hoped that this was some sort of trick or that Sho had a twin. There had to be some explanation, but the image wasn't fading—he was still sitting there at his desk, quietly going over his cards.

After another moment of stunned silence, Judai hesitantly asked, "Uh...Sho...?"

Sho looked up, confirming Judai's fears. "Huh? Aniki? What are you still doing here? Shouldn't you have crossed over by now? It's been over a week since you died."

The words weren't anything Judai had been expecting—he'd expected water-works and accusations of abandonment. However, the worst part was the tone. Sho didn't sound anything other than confused over Judai's presence there.

"Uh..." He sweat, deciding to worry about that crossing over thing later, assuming it was still relevant then. "What are you doing here, Sho?" he asked, eying his friend's outfit.

"I don't think that's any of your business," he answered. "You're not of this world anymore. Why should you care what happens here?"

Again he didn't sound concerned. Judai stared at him for a bit before blinking a couple of times. "Well, there is a murderer somewhere on the loose, so...there's that."

Sho turned back to his desk, flipping through his cards with his eyes apparently closed. "Go on home, Aniki," he said. "That's a problem for the living to solve."

After another moment's staring, Judai asked, "What's going on, Sho?"

"I just told you, Aniki. It's none of your business. Now go home and let us take care of it," he answered firmly.

Hesitantly, Judai said, "Sho, this is my home."

Sho put down his cards and looked at him. "What?"

"I can't move on, Sho. That's why I'm still here."

He looked...sympathetic? But only barely. That was so unlike Sho that Judai nearly missed his next words.

"Oh. I'm sorry, Aniki. That's too bad. But I guess it makes sense, considering..."

"Considering what?" Judai asked, worried.

"Oh, nothing." He turned back to his desk and picked his cards up again.

Judai wasn't letting it drop that easily, though. "No, Sho, considering what?"

The lack of an answer as his best friend ignored him was disconcerting.

"Sho, why are you acting like this?" he asked, hurt. "I thought we were friends?"

"We are. Or we _were,_ at least."

Judai turned that word over in his head for a minute before asking, "Is the 'were' because I'm dead?"

Regardless of what it was for, it was unfair, and it hurt that Sho was saying something like that.

"Well, that's one reason," Sho answered. "But the other isn't really your fault, so it doesn't really matter. Besides, with you like this, it's meaningless anyway."

There was a pain in Judai's chest, dead or not. "There's another reason?"

Without looking at him, Sho answered, "Nothing important now. Don't worry about it."

"I think it's important."

Just then a boy in white appeared in Sho's doorway. "Hey! Sho-kun! Wanna come watch Manjoume-san mop the floor with some princess who loves frogs!?"

Sho stood up, saying, "Sure! _That_ one actually sounds interesting!"

He started out of the room. Judai called after him, "Sho!"

"Get this!" the other boy said. "She actually thinks she can beat him and 'put an end to his reign of terror!'"

They both burst out laughing, then Sho said, "That's crazy! No one can beat White Thunder!"

"I know, right!?"

They walked off, Sho completely ignoring Judai. He stayed there in that room for a bit, hurt that his friend would shun him this way.

* * *

Later, Judai found himself on the roof of the school. No matter how he tried, he couldn't stop thinking about his encounter with Sho.

"We 'were' friends... I don't get it! Why did Sho join them?"

Winged Kuriboh looked down. _"Kuri..."_

If he hadn't been lost in thought, Judai might have heard the footsteps charging up the stairs. Then he might have avoided being seen by the orange-eyed girl with the purple hair braided over her shoulder. Granted, he shouldn't have been visible in the first place since she couldn't see spirits, but he didn't seem to realize that he was still visible to all.

Haruko took some deep breaths as she stopped running, glancing back over her shoulder nervously. "Oh, geez, that guy... I really...should tell...Aki...about him...," she breathed.

Winged Kuriboh saw her, even if Judai didn't. He pointed at her, saying, _"Judai, look! Quick! Make sure she can't see you!"_

Haruko looked before Judai could react. "Hm? J-Ju-Judai...?" came the nervous question.

Winged Kuriboh sweat. _"Too late..."_ Silently, he mused, _He's so naïve sometimes, it's scary._

Judai stared at the girl for a while before giving a real intelligent, "Uh..." He sweat.

"Oh, my gosh!" she exclaimed. "What are you _doing _here!? Shouldn't you have crossed over a long time ago!?" She gasped, covering her mouth with both hands as she came to a conclusion. "What if you can't maybe that's why you're still here sometimes a traumatic death leaves the spirit trapped hold on, I'll go get Kathleen!"

That was all said so quickly that Judai hadn't quite processed it before she ran off.

"She's going to get Kathleen... Why?"

Out of curiosity—and because he didn't want to leave—Judai waited for them. Soon after, Kathleen came bolting up the stairs, Haruko close behind. The red-head gasped, covering her mouth with both hands.

"Haru? You were so right!"

"See!?"

Judai sweat. _This is getting a little out of hand..._

Kathleen slowly approached him, nervously saying, "Hey, Judai? What's up?"

He stared at her a moment before answering, "Not much."

"So, uh, something wrong? I-I mean, you need something or...something?"

Hesitantly, he answered, "No."

"Okay? So, then, you're still here...why?"

"Uh..."

She stared at him for a minute before coming out and asking, "You're not stuck, are you?"

"Stuck? Why would you think I'm stuck? I never said I was stuck!" he said quickly.

Kathleen raised her hands in a calming gesture. "Now, calm down, okay? This sort of thing happens all the time. Don't worry. There's usually a way to fix it. Now, think. Do you have any regrets?"

He just stared at her for a moment before he said, "Kathleen, I'm sixteen and dead. Of course I've got regrets!"

"That's not always the case, Judai. Some kids lived a great life and died in peace! Your age so doesn't have anything to do with it."

"Sure, it does! I regret dying, for one thing!"

"Shh. It's okay," she soothed. "That just means you haven't yet come to terms with your death. Also, you wouldn't regret that if there weren't other more important regrets holding you back. Now, think! What is your unfinished business here!?"

She sounded impatient. Well, he supposed he was being stubborn. But he wasn't supposed to move on yet!

Instead of answering, he changed the subject to what was bothering him just then. "I saw Sho earlier, he was wearing white."

"Yeah? What about it?"

Judai hesitantly asked, "Why?"

Kathleen cocked her head. "Why what?"

He didn't answer.

"Judai, how can I help you if you keep acting like this? What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? My friends are falling apart at the seams, Manjoume's turned evil, and Sho joined him for some reason! What do you mean, what's wrong!?"

"Yeah. I know. There's something seriously off about that White Dorm place, as they keep calling it."

"White Dorm?"

She nodded. "Yeah. That's what they're calling it. And anyone who duels them always becomes one of them. I'm getting a way bad feeling about that place."

Haruko sweat and said, "Glad I didn't join..."

"You were gonna join?" Judai asked, his eyes wide.

Kathleen looked at the other girl in shock. "Glad you didn't _what_!? Haru! Are you out of your mind!? Whatever possessed you to even consider such a thing?"

"I haven't thought about it since Sho joined!" she defended.

Kathleen sighed. "Evading the question, I see. Well, whatever it was, let's hope it was as 'good' a reason as Sho's was."

"What _was_ Sho's reason?" Judai asked.

Kathleen pointed to Haruko, saying, "Ask her. She was actually _there_ at the time?"

"Uh, well... He wanted to forget about you?" she answered with some hesitation.

Judai just stared at her, but Kathleen said, "Why am I not surprised. What? He _still_ hate him for dying or something?"

"He said something earlier about Judai lying to him? Then, when he joined, it was because Manjoume said the Society of Light would take away the pain. Sho decided Judai shouldn't care if he forgot about him because he had left."

This reasoning clearly made no sense because it took Kathleen a moment to ask, "What...?"

"So, in other words, I should have been haunting Sho, and he decided we aren't friends because I wasn't...," Judai said. "Okay, yeah, that...that makes sense, considering..."

"Judai? You okay?" Kathleen asked.

"Yeah, fine. Why wouldn't I be? I mean, it's not like my best friend joined some evil group so he could forget about me."

"Yeah... Sorry about that," she said, sweating.

He was quiet a moment, thinking, before he had to ask, "None of the others are thinking about joining, are they?"

"Not that I know of. _They_ all seem to think Manjoume's gone crazy! Right, Haru?"

Haruko shifted slightly. "Well...I don't know about Asuka..."

"What?" Judai asked. Suddenly he _had_ to find her.

Kathleen sweat. "Uh, Haru, maybe you shouldn't—"

"I mean, she's been crying herself to sleep every night, snapping at people, freaking out for no apparent reason—"

She cut herself off when Judai vanished, apparently going to find the girl in question.

Kathleen gave Haruko a lame look and said, "Way to go, Haru."

She probably would have answered—if not for an obnoxious voice yelling from down the stairs.

"HARUKO-CHAN! WHERE ARE YOU, MY PRECIOUS!?"

"Oh, shoot, it's _him_ again!" she exclaimed, running off—she didn't want to be trapped here if he came this way.

"Haru! Wait! Who _is _that!?" Kathleen asked, running after her. "Hey!"

* * *

_I can't believe Sho did that,_ Asuka thought. _Especially considering what I was told. Why couldn't he have listened to me first?_

She tried to turn her attention back to her homework as a spirit peeked into her room.

"Asuka?"

She didn't hear him, and Judai figured that he must have turned invisible to all who couldn't see spirits normally. It seemed he just wasn't controlling his own spirit powers very well today.

"Ugh..." He focused on making her see him, then tried again, "Asuka?"

She blinked and looked up from her work, staring straight ahead. _D-did I just hear Judai? What's he doing here?_

She looked around, gaze stopping when she caught sight of him. Then she stared at him, slightly confused.

"W-what are you doing here? Isn't there someplace you're supposed to be right now?" she asked.

He was quiet for a moment before answering. "No, not really. I just...wanted to see how you were doing."

She blinked. "I'm fine."

"You sure? Because I heard you..."

"I'm fine," she repeated sternly. There was a hint of annoyance in her tone as well.

Hesitantly, somewhat nervous, Judai said, "Okay."

She sighed. "Sorry."

"Huh? What for?"

Asuka just shook her head, saying, "No, never mind. It's just Haruko Ishiyama's been constantly bugging me, accusing me of being worse off than Sho, that's all. No big deal."

"...I'd say everybody who cares is worse off than Sho now, all things considered..."

"And what makes you say that?"

"Oh, uh... Nothing."

She looked at him. "You haven't seen him recently, have you?"

After a moment's hesitation, he answered, "Yes."

Asuka stood up, saying "Oh, Judai. What happened?"

"Nothing, really, he just asked what I was doing here and said that I shouldn't be here," he answered, glossing over the painful parts of that conversation.

"Well, honestly, I was thinking the same thing, Judai. Why _are _you here?"

Just like before, he was caught off-guard by the tone more than the words—she sounded like she might be annoyed. He just stared at her, the look on his face screaming "not again."

She looked at him in confusion all of a sudden. "Judai?"

"Should I just leave, then?" he asked, sounding upset. "Is that what you're saying?"

"What?" she asked, concern mingling with confusion in her voice. "No, of course not! Whatever made you say that?"

"I get the feeling I'm bugging you."

"Judai! What are you talking about? You're not bothering me at all!"

"Then why did it sound like you were annoyed earlier?"

"Are you saying you don't even _know_?"

"Know what?"

She sighed. "As usual, he's clueless," she muttered. _Well, maybe they didn't tell him yet... _"Never mind," she told him casually. "It's not important."

He just stared at her, not at all sure what to make of that.

"Look, if you just stopped by because you're worried about me, then you're worried for nothing. I'm fine, okay?" Asuka said, smiling.

"If you say so," he said. "Just...promise me you're not gonna join the light or anything."

She looked at him, shocked. "Are you crazy!? Why would you ever think I'd do something _that_ stupid!?"

Judai looked away, silent for a minute, then muttered, "Sho did." Glancing back at her, he spoke up and added, "Something about ending the pain?"

Asuka looked down, thinking of how desperate Sho had been to do that. "Yeah..."

"It's not worth it," Judai asserted. "That dumb light's the reason I'm dead."

She looked at him, stunned, and asked, "Wait, what?"

"The guy was wearing white, and so were his friends! They _had_ to be in that stupid society!"

As he said it, he felt another stinging pain in his chest—two of his friends were in a society that had killed him, and they didn't seem to care. What was the deal with this thing?

Asuka gasped. "Y-you mean—" She cut herself off. Judai didn't say a word, so she continued, "So what you're saying is Manjoume's 'light of truth' really _is_ evil?"

"Yeah..."

She took that in for a moment. "Great. So now what do we do?"

"Wait," he answered. "I'm working with someone to deal with that."

"So, then, I ask again. Why are you here and not there trying to fix this?" she asked in exasperation.

"Because _I_ have to wait."

"Wait? Wait for what?"

Judai thought about his answer for a moment before saying, "There's something I need, and I'm waiting for someone to get it for me."

"Huh?" she asked, confused.

_Don't let me down, Jonouchi-san,_ he thought. _I'm counting on you!_


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh GX.**

Jonouchi walked into a casino in downtown Domino City and immediately spotted someone he recognized—the man's black hair was still held back in a ponytail, and he still had a dice hanging from his left ear. Another thing that hadn't changed about Ryuji Otogi was that he still had girls hanging off his arms while he played with dice: a blond and a brunette.

"Ryuji!? What are _you_ doing here!?" Jonouchi asked—after all, his friend ran a company in America.

Ryuji turned green eyes on him, startled. "That's my line, Jonouchi. I thought you weren't into gambling, considering your past with it. So why are _you_ here? Or is this a crime scene?"

"Not exactly. Weirder, man."

Getting the message, Ryuji sighed and waved the girls away. As the ladies took off, he asked, "Okay, now what's going on?"

Jonouchi leaned in and whispered, "Some kid was murdered to keep him from stopping some evil he has to beat, and Atem's trying to bring him back to life. They need me to get something that can help them do that, and I was told I could get it near here." Silently, he added, _For an insane price! Geez..._

"So, wait," Ryuji whispered back. "Are you saying there's some magical, mystical item around here somewhere? And what makes you guys think you can revive the dead, anyway? You're not God, you know."

"Hey, I never said I thought we could. Atem's the one saying it's possible. Something about alchemy and magic books? After meeting Mana, I'm willing to believe anything if the word 'magic' is involved."

Mana was an old friend of the pharaoh's. From ancient Egypt. Who they had met by traveling into the pharaoh's memories. She had created a tidal wave from the Nile that had wiped out an army of shadow soldiers. She also happened to be the original controller of the Dark Magician Girl.

"Okay? And this alchemy item's here somewhere?" Ryuji asked.

"Yeah. Apparently some psychic bought it off the kid's parents and is trying to sell it for twice what she paid."

"Really? And how much is that, exactly?"

Jonouchi had thought he'd ask that. And he actually knew the answer. He had headed to the shop first, finding it to be closed, then Atem showed up and reminded him that it was insanely expensive, even giving him the exact price the woman wanted.

"983,000 yen," he answered.*

Ryuji raised an eyebrow. "That much?" he asked in disbelief.

"Apparently it's pretty damned valuable. One-of-a-kind. Don't know how this kid got his hands on it."

"And you were going to do what? You weren't seriously thinking of wasting all your hard-earned yen here trying to win enough for it, were you?"

"Do I look like I've got that kind of money? What else am I gonna do, stand by and watch the world get destroyed after we spent all of high school _keeping_ it from getting destroyed?"

"Is it really that important?"

"World-destroying evil that _only_ this kid can beat," Jonouchi repeated. With a shrug, he added, "Apparently so."

Ryuji sighed again. "You know if Mai finds out you were here and you lost instead, you'd be dead, too, right?"

"I know. That's why I'm not planning on losing."

"Oh, this I gotta see."

Jonouchi decided to ignore this rude yet normal statement and instead headed to the slots, deeming them the best place to start.

"Come on, show me some love!" he said as he pulled the lever.

Ryuji watched with amusement as the reels stopped: 7-7-7. Well, looked like Jonouchi had won big on his first try, at least.

"Aw, yeah!" he cheered as his winnings spilled out. "That's what I'm talking about!"

"Wow. And here I thought that luck of yours only applied to dueling," Ryuji said, sounding impressed.

Jonouchi just laughed.

"But I highly doubt you'll be able to keep all 200,000 yen.** Tell you what? I'll help you pay the rest if you be my servant for the rest of my trip."

Jonouchi looked at him, annoyed. "Uh, yeah, I'm not gonna do that."

"So you'd rather try your luck in gambling? Isn't the fate of the world on the line here? Do you really want to risk its safety over some old grudge you have against me?" the other man asked, grinning.

Back in high school, Jonouchi and Ryuji had gotten off to a rough start. Ryuji showed off for the girls in his class, and Jonouchi had been all too eager to challenge him. He'd lost to him in a duel, the stakes of which were that he do everything Ryuji say for the next week.

"Do _you _wanna risk its safety just so you can get a free servant for a bit?" Jonouchi retorted.

Ryuji laughed. "Just kidding, man. I was gonna loan it to ya, regardless of your answer."

Irritated, Jonouchi grumbled unintelligibly.

"I just wanted to see the look on your face first!" Ryuji laughed, pointing at him in a rather childish manner.

Jonouchi growled. "I get no respect at all!" Thinking of his conversation with the dead earlier, he amended, _Well, except from that kid..._

"So? Where's this shop at? And what time's it open tomorrow?"

* * *

While those two were making plans to go pick up an outrageously priced book, Judai decided to try to reason with Sho. He was hoping he could talk some sense into his friend. Coming back to life would have a sort of bitter taste to it if his best friend was his enemy, he thought. That's why, late that night, he slipped into Sho's room.

"Sho?"

A snore. That was his answer. Sho was asleep. Of course, it made sense, given the hour, but Judai didn't think that this could wait, so he tried again.

"Sho!" he yelled.

The boy moaned and rolled over, waking up. "Huh?" he asked, sleepy.

"Wake up, Sho," Judai said.

He groaned. "Aniki? Do you know what time it is? Some of us _do_ still sleep, you know?"

"This is important, Sho."

Sho sat up. Annoyed, he asked, "What is it?"

"Why did you join the Society of Light?"

"That's not—" Sho started.

"It is to me, Sho," Judai cut him off.

"Why? Why does it bother you so much? It's not that big a deal."

"Yes, it is!"

"Why? Don't you know that, for most of us, joining the Society's a good thing?"

"Why's that? And what do you mean, 'most of us?'"

"Isn't it obvious?" He shook his head, saying, "No. I guess it isn't to someone like you. It's because, when someone joins, their eyes are opened. They see the light and learn the truth. About this world, about their friends, and themselves. Since the light doesn't keep secrets, everything becomes clear! It's the answer to all of Earth's mysteries! And, with the light of truth on our side, we'll lead the world to an everlasting peace! Is that so wrong?"

"So, if the light tells you everything, then who killed me? Why?"

Sho was quiet a moment, apparently building up the suspense. "Fate... It was fate," he said at last.

"Fate?"

"Of course! It was meant to happen! You weren't supposed to live to see this day! That could have been disastrous, and that's why it was your destiny to die!"

Judai stared at him for a moment, unable to believe his ears. Finally, he said, "Sho, you just said that it's a good thing I'm dead, you know that, right?"

Sho looked down, but he didn't say anything.

"Sho, there's no way it's a good thing that I'm dead. What did I ever do to deserve this? I _saved_ the world last year, in case you forgot!"

"I'm sorry, Aniki," he said after a moment's hesitation. "But that's the way it had to be. No one ever said fate was always kind to everyone, you know."

"Sho! This is ridiculous! That light's evil! It's going to destroy everything!"

"No! It's the _darkness _that's evil!" Sho insisted. "It wants to swallow up the world and drown everyone! The light wants to _save_ people from it!"

"Then why did it kill _me_!?"

"Because _you're _the darkness!"

Judai's eyes widened slightly. "What?"

Sho looked down, saying, "I'm sorry, Aniki. That's the other reason I wasn't mentioning earlier. See, the light showed us that there was a deep and dangerous darkness inside you; and, if allowed to exist, it would have destroyed the light. So it had to be eliminated before it became a threat."

"Sho, are you saying I'm evil? That's crazy!"

Though, even as he said it, he found himself thinking that it might just be true. Back home, he didn't have a lot of friends. In fact, there seemed to be a rumor that being his friend would get you hurt. Or, at least, dueling him would get you hurt. That idea had to have come from somewhere, but he couldn't remember what might have brought it up.

Sho didn't say anything, his eyes still cast downward.

"That's...that's insane," Judai said quietly. "I'm not..."

Winged Kuriboh appeared beside him, glaring. _"Kuri!" _he said, sounding annoyed.

"Aibou."

He slapped the boy a couple of times, saying, _"You idiot! You think you're evil!? Otherworldly _gods_ wanted you to return to beat this light! Snap out of it!"_

"Y-you're right," he said. _Whatever the deal was back home, it doesn't have anything to do with this._

"Huh? Say something?" Sho asked.

"Sho," he tried again, "I think you're being tricked. That light's evil! And it's lying to you!"

"If anyone's being tricked around here, it's you! Wake up! You_ had_ to go! It was the only way!"

Judai stared, hurt. He had hoped that he could reason with Sho, that he could convince him that he was wrong. Instead, he had just been told that he had to die. Twice. By his best friend.

"Sho..."

_"__This is getting us nowhere,"_ Winged Kuriboh kuried. _"Let's just go."_

Judai didn't speak immediately. When he did, it was a question for Sho. "Why did you join, Sho?"

"That again? Why does it—"

"Please. Just answer the question, and I'll leave you alone."

Sho sighed. "You're not gonna like hearing it."

"What do you care? Tell me anyway."

"Okay. It was because..." He trailed off, not sure how to tell Judai this one.

"Because...?" the brunette pressed.

"Because you... You left, and I..." He sweat, then, sounding nervous, asked, "What was the question again?"

"Why did you join?" Judai pressed.

"Oh!" Sweating and rubbing the back of his head, Sho said, "Uh, well, you see, you said you didn't want me dropping out, and then you weren't here, so I, uh..." He trailed off again, then asked, "Wanna play hide and seek? You count, and I'll run and hide!"

Before Judai could respond, he had run off.

Judai lingered a moment, certain he knew what that meant. After all, Haruko had already told him why Sho had joined, hadn't she?

"Joined because you wanted to forget about me...," he said to himself after a moment. "Got it..."

* * *

Jonouchi was pulled away from breakfast the next day by a familiar exclamation from his wife.

"KATSUYAAAA!" Mai shrieked. "Joe's skipping school again! He just ran out!"

Sadly, this was quite typical. Jonouchi put down his fork, leaving his eggs unfinished, and said, "Ugh... I'll get him...in the squad car..."

That was an idea that just occurred to him at that moment. He had a squad car sitting outside of his house, so why not use it to get Joe and drag him to school? Maybe it would make more of an impression on the kid.

"You better!" Mai said.

Jonouchi looked at his watch. 8:30. He was supposed to meet Ryuji at 9:45 to get that book. He wouldn't have his kid picked up and dropped off at school soon enough. In other words, Joe was making him late—again.

_I'm gonna kill him... Think I'll use the sirens, just for him,_ he decided, climbing into the car.

He pulled out of the driveway, flipped on the sirens, and took off after his son.

* * *

It was ten when he arrived at Ryuji's hotel, having caught Joe and scared the living daylights out of him (the sirens had the desired effect) before dropping him off at school and hurrying off to meet Ryuji (without the sirens).

"What took you so long?" Ryuji asked. He had been standing outside, waiting. "I thought this was an urgent matter?"

"My kid skipped school and ran off," Jonouchi answered.

"Oh. Is _that_ all? Okay, then! You know, you have _got_ to do something about that one of these days!" Ryuji said, laughing.

"I'd like to see how _you_ do with raising kids!" Jonouchi snapped.

Ryuji just laughed some more. "Right," he said as he composed himself. "Well, should we get going, then? You _do_ still wanna get this book, don't you?" He headed over to the police car in the parking lot.

"Yeah, yeah, let's get this over with," Jonouchi said, following.

* * *

When the two walked into the shop, Jonouchi was tempted to cite it as some sort of safety violation. The shelves lining the walls were crowded with merchandise, and larger items were cluttering up the floor all around. A bell rang when they opened the door, and the shop owner came walking up to them.

"Ah," she said. "Customers. Is there something I can help you guys with?"

The owner was in her middle ages, with black hair hanging down to just below her shoulders. Her gray eyes held a hint of amusement, as if she doubted they could afford any of her merchandise. Seeing the price tag on some strange yet tiny object on a nearby shelf—it looked like something out of a Harry Potter movie—Jonouchi silently agreed.

"Yeah, we're looking for an alchemy book," he said.

"Alchemy, you say? Well, have I got a treat for you."

She led them to the store window, which was easily the least cluttered space here. A large book sat on a pedestal in the center of the display, the Eye of Horus on the front.

"This here is the genuine article, and it's extremely rare," the woman said. "Why, it's so rare, it's the only one of its kind to this day! I'm sure you know what such a treasure is worth?"

_Yeah, more than my house,_ Jonouchi thought, irritated. "The only one, huh?" he asked. _HOW did this kid get his hands on this ANCIENT EGYPTIAN BOOK in the first place!?_

"Okay, then! How much?" Ryuji asked. _Not that we don't already know._

"Well, since this _is_ such a rare and valuable treasure, you can bet that it's not cheap. It's worth more than the two of you combined, you see?"

"Really?" Jonouchi asked.

The woman nodded, saying, "Why, yes. Of course."

"How much does it cost!?" Ryuji demanded.

"983,000 yen," she answered.

"You take checks?" Jonouchi asked casually.

The woman's eyes widened. She looked like she was about to have a heart attack. "Are you saying you can actually afford it!?"

"Well, _he _can't, but _I_ can!" Ryuji said, handing her a credit card.

The woman stared for a moment before saying, "Well, okay, then!" She picked up the book and took Ryuji's card, saying, "I'll go ring this up for you, gentlemen. Right this way, please."

So the stunned owner took them to the register, rang them up, and handed over the ridiculously expensive and _ancient_ book.

"Thank you very much," she said as they left. "Please come again!"

"This had better be worth it, Jonouchi," Ryuji said, glaring slightly, as he handed him the book once they were outside. "That was way too much money."

"Blame Atem," Jonouchi said, silently thinking that this book was invaluable to that kid. "He's the one who says we need this thing."

"Were you referring to me?"

The two turned to see the pharaoh floating behind them, his arms crossed and a smile on his face.

"W-whoa! Pharaoh!" Ryuji said, shocked.

"Yo."

Ryuji snatched the spell book from Jonouchi, holding it up. "Hey, check it out! I got this back for you," he said.

"Why, you—" Jonouchi started.

"Thanks, Ryuji," Atem said, smiling. "You were a big help."

"Any time, man. Any time."

Jonouchi growled. "Why, I oughta..."

"Now, Jonouchi," Atem said. "Keep an eye on that until I get back, okay? And prepare to see some magic."

"Yeah, okay."

Atem nodded, then vanished, presumably heading off to get Judai.

"So exactly what's he planning to do again?" Ryuji asked. "How's he gonna use this book to revive that kid?"

"I dunno. All I know is he's planning on reviving some kid."

* * *

In the Red Dorm, Judai "sat" cross-legged on the floor, thinking about Sho—especially his reasons for joining the Society of Light.

_"__I'm sure his reasons for joining were better than that!"_ Winged Kuriboh insisted.

Judai thought about it for a second before asking, "Then how come he couldn't say?"

Winged Kuriboh gave it some thought. Coming up with nothing, he shrugged. _"I don't know."_

With no other ideas as to why Sho joined, Judai was forced to believe that it was so that he could forget about him.

"Something wrong, Judai?" a voice asked from above.

He looked up to see the pharaoh, looking mildly concerned. "Oh, hey, Atem."

"You look troubled. Something on your mind?"

Judai shook his head. "Nah, it's nothing."

"Hmm." Clearly, Atem didn't believe him. "Well, on a completely unrelated note, we've got your book now."

"Really? Great," Judai said, falling short of enthusiastic.

Atem studied him for a moment. "Something's really bothering you, isn't it? What's wrong?"

"My best friend joined the Society of Light."

"What!?"

"Yeah. Haruko says it's because he wanted to forget me."

"And why would he want that?"

"Because he couldn't stand me dying. Not to mention he feels like I ditched him because I wasn't here... So he figured I wouldn't care if he joined the Society, and he probably tried to kill himself first, so I guess this is better than that, but still..."

Atem just stared, stunned. He had never heard of someone being so bent out of shape by a friend's death that they would try to forget about them completely.

Quietly, Judai added, "He keeps saying it's a good thing I'm dead..."

"Now that one's the light talking," Atem assured him. "His reasoning, however... Hmm."

The brunette shrugged. "That's Sho for you. His logic isn't there. He jumped in the ocean to go greet me once, but he forgot he couldn't swim."

"Interesting. Well, I suppose if you want to find out the truth behind all of this, you'll just have to fix things first. Shall we go, then?"

"Yeah, let's go," Judai said, getting up.

The two took off for Jonouchi's home just as a helicopter landed outside on the heliport. A duelist with teal hair stepped out, dressed in a white coat and blue pants.

_Sho,_ Ryo thought. _What on Earth were you thinking?_

Ryo was Sho's older brother, and he had come as soon as Fubuki had told him what his brother had attempted. He had a match against Ed Phoenix scheduled, but this news had led him to postpone it. Sho's health was on the line, after all. And he had lost a friend.

Hearing about Judai's death through a phone call about his brother's suicidal impulses wasn't exactly the best way to find out about it, but Ryo would worry about that later. After all, he had bigger issues right now, such as preventing another funeral. With that in mind, he headed off in search of Sho.

* * *

It was unusually quiet when the spirits arrived at Jonouchi's. Then again, Mai had taken the kids to visit their aunt for the day, so that was probably why.

"So, where is it, Jonouchi?" Atem asked. They were all gathered in his living room.

Jonouchi held up the book, saying, "Right here."

"Alright!" Judai cheered. "Thanks, Jonouchi-san! You're the best!"

Jonouchi grinned, obviously pleased.

"You hear that? Looks like your one and only fan is pleased!" Atem teased.

Jonouchi laughed, not catching that immediately. "Well, Katsuya Jonouchi doesn't disappoint his fans... Hey, wait a sec!" He glared slightly at Atem as he caught on.

The pharaoh laughed. So did Winged Kuriboh.

Jonouchi pouted. "Very funny, Pharaoh."

"Well, anyway, thanks for the help," Atem said. "Can you put the book on the floor for me please?"

He nodded, "Right." Putting the book down on the floor, still closed, he asked, "This good enough, pal?"

Atem nodded. "That will work. Thanks, Jonouchi." He turned to Judai and said, "Come here, Judai. Here's our last lesson in the arts of poltergeist."

Judai moved closer, and Atem began the difficult task of teaching him how to move objects with his mind.

* * *

"AASUUKAAAAAA!" Kenzan bellowed, bolting through the girls' dorm to her room. He looked like he had just seen a ghost.

Some of the girls shrieked at the sight of a boy who wasn't Fubuki in their dorm. Two of them, whom Kenzan dashed past on his way through, stared after him.

"What the heck is Kenzan doing!?" Akiko asked.

"Screaming and running through the dorm," Haruko said simply.

Pounding on her door, he cried, "ASUKA! OPEN UP! I J-JUST SAW A—"

Kathleen ran over, having heard all of the commotion from the other end of the hallway. "What on Earth's going on here!? Kenzan! Are you okay!?" Silently she added, _'Cause you feel like _you_ saw Judai now! Did you!?_

He turned to the ginger, bug-eyed. "Kathleen! Where's Asuka!? I need to talk to her right now!" he demanded, grabbing her by the front of her shirt and shaking her violently.

"Whoa, Kenzan, chill!" Akiko said, running over.

He whirled on her next, dropping Kathleen. She swayed a bit on her feet, nearly falling over from dizziness.

"Well!? Where is she!?" He grabbed Akiko next. "Come on! It's urgent!"

He was about to start shaking her, too, but she grabbed his shirt first. "Shaking people is no way to get an answer," she said. "I don't know where she is. What's going on?"

"I-I just saw a-a g-gho—!"

Kathleen shook herself. "Whoa. Hold up. Are you saying _you've_ seen Judai now!?"

"No! Of course not! At least, not _yet_, that is!"

"Then who _did _you see?" Akiko asked.

"I don't know his _name_!" Kenzan exclaimed. "I've never seen him before!"

"Well, then, can you describe him for us?" _Then tell me where you saw him so I can go to work!_

"W-well, I couldn't see m-most of him! He had some weird headdress—part of it was gold. H-he had brown eyes and darker skin and was wearing what looked like a long white dress? There were these huge gold spikes on both his shoulders and gold bands on his arms and legs. I can tell you one thing! He was _definitely _not from around here!"

Kathleen gasped. "Oh, wow! What was an Egyptian priest even _doing _here!?"

"H-he said he had a message a-about Aniki."

"And?" Akiko asked.

"And I've gotta tell Asuka right now!" He pulled away from Akiko, reminding her that she had been holding onto him, and ran off in search. "AASUUKAAAA! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!?"

The three girls stood there, staring after him. Kathleen was the first to speak. "That was weird."

"Ya think?" Akiko responded.

Haruko stood there another moment, stunned, then suddenly turned to Akiko, saying, "Oh! Aki, that reminds me! I've got a stalker!"

Kathleen sweat, having just met him. "Yeah... And a totally creepy one, too..."

"Name and description, anyone?" Akiko asked, looking ready to kill.

* * *

Meanwhile, Atem had explained to Judai what it was that he needed to do with those stones he had. The look on the brunette's face encouraged Atem to ask, "So, Judai? Get it now?"

"Uh-huh!" he said, smiling confidently.

"Then what are you waiting for? Make a miracle happen!" Atem said, giving him an encouraging smile.

Judai took a deep breath, pulling out the stones. "Okay. Here goes nothing!" he said.

He started chanting in ancient Egyptian, having just gotten a crash course in it from Atem. One stone was held in each hand.

"Brace yourself, Jonouchi," Atem said, grinning. "This could get a bit crazy."

"Yeah, okay," Jonouchi said. He'd already figured as much—they were resurrecting the dead in his house, after all.

As Judai continued, a transparent green cylinder appeared around him, and the stones began to glow. He pushed the two toward each other, but they resisted as if they were magnets of the same polarity. With great effort, he brought them into contact with each other, and a bright light filled the room. Atem and Jonouchi shielded their eyes, turning away.

When the light died down, Judai was holding a single stone. It was spherical, and it glowed in all colors of the rainbow. Come to think of it, it reminded him a bit of that card he had gotten from Daitokuji last year...

He stared at it for a bit.

"Well done!" Atem said, pleased.

Jonouchi stared for another second, his arm still raised slightly. As he lowered it, he said, "Okay. Now what?"

"Judai should already know." Silently, Atem added, _Although, knowing him, he hasn't got a clue. But let's see if he does first._

Judai just stared at him for the longest time, a blank look on his face.

Atem nodded in amusement, his eyes closed. "Uh-huh. That's what I thought. Judai, that's a very special treasure mankind's been after since almost the beginning of time. It's a miracle stone. Although the first one was referred to as the Philosopher's Stone. It can grant any wish."

"Th-the Philosopher's Stone!?" Judai exclaimed.

"Oh, no way! Seriously!?" Jonouchi demanded.

Atem nodded. "However, there _is_ a catch to using it."

"Catch?" Judai glanced at it, thinking of the card he had once had. "What, you can only use it once?"

Atem smiled. "Nice work, kid. You actually got it right for once."

Judai pouted.

"Which means you need to be very careful when you make your wish, Judai. One wrong or forgotten word could turn you into something else or even cast the wrong spell completely. Think wisely about what you're going to say."

"Gee, thanks," he said, feeling slightly nervous now.

Atem grinned at him. "Good luck."

***About $10,000 US**

****About $1,900 US**


End file.
